Launched 5 July 2004 Picture format 576i SDTV | Network Animax Country India | |
Owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment Slogan ANIMAX daisuki! (I Love Animax!) | ||
Animax India is the Indian Subcontinent division of Animax Asia, a Japanese anime television channel. This channel is a part of Japanese media conglomerate Sony. It is operated and broadcast from Singapore by Animax Asia and distributed by Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd. It is also the first animation channel that targets the age 13–35 demographic and the only channel to simulcast anime in the same week and on the same day as Japan.
Contents
History
Animax began operations across India and the rest of Indian Subcontinent from 5 July 2004 with Irfan Pathan as a brand ambassador. Animax Indian Subcontinent started with 12 hours Hindi feed that targeted young kids and teens ages 7–14 and it had planned to launch Hindi and English language audio tracks but from 15 August 2006, Animax entirely shut down its Hindi feed and kept its English one, since it changed its target audience to the ages 15–40 group.
On 1 January 2008, Animax South Asia merged with Animax Asia's programming feed, including all of its exclusive premieres. Animax India rebranded its logo along with Singapore on 4 May 2010. Animax became the first channel to simulcast the ultra popular series, Supernatural. Continuing with the sci-fi shows, Animax aired Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles for the first time in entire Asia. Animax also aired Korean entertainment shows like Live Power Music, Pretty Boys & Girls and Comedy Boot Camp in Korean audio with English subtitles. Animax added American reality shows to their list with the premiere of Scare Tactics. Animax also simulcasts the yearly Video Game Awards hosted by Spike TV.
With the premiere of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Animax stopped dubbing anime and started airing them in Japanese audio with English subtitles. However, Animax continued to dub a few anime shows like the second season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Animax continued to simulcast all the shows aired on AXN, its sister channel. The Shows Ghost Adventures, Chuck and Fear Itself were originally aired on AXN India. In 2012, the channel stopped airing such shows and reverted to its old logo, and focused only on anime. Moreover, all DTH providers in India delisted Animax as the channel couldn't pay carriage fees. Animax made its way back into the DTH networks in 2016 with its addition on Tata Sky at LCN 686.