AZN channel

[SunWuKong]

so who is actually getting this channel? i was browsing channels last night and i found this channel. i had no idea i get it as part of my basic cable plan.

for those who gets the channel, what do you think? they played As Tears Go By last night and i was happy about that. but they had a commercial to market their station that says something like "shows in English, you know, your language". i thought that was kind of cheesy.

i do see on their schedule that they're going to be playing Who Killed Vincent Chin?. i'll probably be watching that.

[rice cracker]

I'm excited for the Bollywood movies.

[SunWuKong]

I'm excited for the Bollywood movies.

bah. they better play the "good" Indian movies instead, aka no cheesy musicals about love stories.

[Jenny]

i do see on their schedule that they're going to be playing Who Killed Vincent Chin?. i'll probably be watching that.

I thought they already knew who shot him?

[SunWuKong]

I thought they already knew who shot him?

that's just the name of the documentary.

[applehead]

my sister and i watch the asian street
comedy.
steve byrne is hilarious.

but i don't really care to see non asian american
stuff. i get enough of that on videos.
i wish they had more original programming
geared towards asian americans.
but i guess it takes time.

[thaite]

I don't think I get this. Is it part of regular cable programming?

[rice cracker]

I don't think I get this. Is it part of regular cable programming?

It's a regular part of ours. We have Comcast cable. Other cable providers may vary.

[thaite]

suck

[VV o n g B a]

i've got comcast too. but i don't get it prolly since i live in the deep south.

[LaiSteve66]

I have AZN TV, and it's pretty cool. I watched The Wedding Banquet on it once.

[SunWuKong]

i've got comcast too. but i don't get it prolly since i live in the deep south.

we've got Comcast Digital. are you sure you don't get it? it's channel 108 on our plan.

[thaite]

I have Cox, and they don't have it on any of their available listings. I should call them and request it.

[VV o n g B a]

we've got Comcast Digital. are you sure you don't get it? it's channel 108 on our plan.oh no i have basic. hell if i can get it on digital i might have to order it. isn't mtv desi, chi and k supposed to come out soon too?

*edit - i just checked digital for my area and they don't carry it. i put in a request for it tho.

[haplesshobo]

I used to get it on basic cable, but its been recently removed.

[TB4000]

Yeah, I see it on occasion while flipping. All the asian dudes that host the random shows are pretty much how I envision all the dudes on here. Yes, I lumped you all into one wisecracking ball. :p

[SunWuKong]

oh no i have basic. hell if i can get it on digital i might have to order it. isn't mtv desi, chi and k supposed to come out soon too?

*edit - i just checked digital for my area and they don't carry it. i put in a request for it tho.

yeah, when i said we have basic, i meant basic digital.

i'm not sure if it's worth it to switch to digital for, if that's your only incentive. they don't have much original programming right now. but it's always good to support it to increase demand. hopefully they'll start earning enough soon to actually fund original Asian American productions - i'm guessing they'll need to be the ones to fund the actual productions themselves because not many TV studios out there will make Asian American shows/programs.

with that said, what kind of original Asian American TV programming would you like to see? documentary series? sitcoms? music videos?

[eos]

only on comcast? i have directv, and i can't change my plan because i live in a condominum complex and it's not my decision. that sux!!!!:mad:
it took us like 5 years to even GET directv, switching over from comcast, which was providing us with some crap-ass cable. who likes static? NOT me!!!!

[SunWuKong]

only on comcast?

i don't know if Comcast is the only one that carries it.

but check the website:
http://www.i-channel.com/channel.aspx

[AltimaGTR]

It used to be called the International Channel, but I guess it's getting more attention as the "AZN" channel heh. GOT RICE?

[VV o n g B a]

with that said, what kind of original Asian American TV programming would you like to see? documentary series? sitcoms? music videos?everything. i want it all. but i remember seeing that AZN was geared not specifically at asian americans but at ppl generally interested in asian culture, so i'm not sure we'll see much original asian american programming. mtv chi on the other hand...

[eos]

i don't know if Comcast is the only one that carries it.

but check the website:
http://www.i-channel.com/channel.aspx

i did and they said it's not being currently offered by directv. but if i pressed a button i could send a fax to request directv to add it. so i pressed it.:tongue:

[SunWuKong]

everything. i want it all. but i remember seeing that AZN was geared not specifically at asian americans but at ppl generally interested in asian culture, so i'm not sure we'll see much original asian american programming. mtv chi on the other hand...

well, it does market itself as "TV for Asian America" or something.

[abc!]

Ripped from Angryasianman.com:


10.14.05
Lately, we've seen the emergence of Asian American television networks like AZN and ImaginAsian. I think this is a pretty exciting time, and it's going to be interesting to see what happens once these endeavors really get off the ground and hopefully break through. I haven't seen enough airtime to have an informed opinion, but what I've seen so far has been... okay. You have to understand that these efforts are in their baby stages, and need to time to really develop, gain an audience, and take off. It's progress.

That said, I hear ImaginAsian needs some community support. On October 31, the network is going off the air in San Francisco. It appears that Comcast will be dropping them at the end of the month. This, despite the fact that Asians are the largest minority group in San Francisco. The size of the San Francisco Asian population is two times the Latino and four times the African American populations ...yet there are only two Asian American TV networks (KTSF & AZN) left. Comcast has declined to carry iaTV in San Francisco—even at no cost to them. However, the community has the power to change this. San Francisco Asian Americans, don't you want a choice? iaTV recommends some actions you can take:

1. Call Comcast SF toll free at 1-800-945-2288 to request ImaginAsian TV as part of their channel lineup.

2. Write a letter of support for iaTV and send it to Comcast: http://www.comcast.com/ContactUs/CustomerService.asp. You can use our sample letter (http://www.iatv.tv/getiatv/sample_letter.php) or write your own.

3. Send us a copy of your letter with our online form: http://www.iatv.tv/getiatv/form_letter.php. We will present all amassed letters to Comcast.

4. Spread the word and pass this email on - http://www.iatv.tv/getiatv/tellafriend.php

For more info about the campaign and how you can help, visit http://www.iatv.tv/getiatv/inthebay.php.

[moJo]

So much for the AZN Channel... (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/12/08/apop.DTL)
It's getting axed. I liked the asian american shows, and the standup show, that i caught a few times...but it seems like most times i turned to the channel, it was showing anime. i don't like anime or cartoons, anything animated.

[haplesshobo]

So much for the AZN Channel... (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/12/08/apop.DTL)
It's getting axed. I liked the asian american shows, and the standup show, that i caught a few times...but it seems like most times i turned to the channel, it was showing anime. i don't like anime or cartoons, anything animated.

Not necessairly. The article says that its pulling back from its original goal of a 24 hour channel of original programming aimed towards asian americans. But, that seemed like a bad business model from the get-go. Are there enough asian americans who really want to see 24 hours of original programming? Even established channels like Comedy Channel don't have 24 hours of original programing.

It still seems that the channel will continue to serve up a myraid of different programming from asia: bollywood movies, korean dramas, etc.. That is going to be much cost effective where the channel doesn't have to develop and pay for original programing. Although, I'm not necessairly a fan of this model as the content seems too diverese, and doesn't really have a focus or a niche. When you want to see food programs, you go to Food Network. And, when you want to learn about home and decorating stuff, you go to HGTV. With AZN channel, the programming didn't really have a demographic they wanted except asians, but asians are so diverse. Whenver I turned on the channel, I would see a bollywood movie and after having to listein to that shit in college cause my roomate was indian, I never want to hear that shit again.

Instead of trying to go for all 24 hours of original content, they should have just recycled other content while also having a few original programs as well.

[moJo]

Not necessairly. The article says that its pulling back from its original goal of a 24 hour channel of original programming aimed towards asian americans. But, that seemed like a bad business model from the get-go. Are there enough asian americans who really want to see 24 hours of original programming? Even established channels like Comedy Channel don't have 24 hours of original programing.

It still seems that the channel will continue to serve up a myraid of different programming from asia: bollywood movies, korean dramas, etc.. That is going to be much cost effective where the channel doesn't have to develop and pay for original programing. Although, I'm not necessairly a fan of this model as the content seems too diverese, and doesn't really have a focus or a niche. When you want to see food programs, you go to Food Network. And, when you want to learn about home and decorating stuff, you go to HGTV. With AZN channel, the programming didn't really have a demographic they wanted except asians, but asians are so diverse. Whenver I turned on the channel, I would see a bollywood movie and after having to listein to that shit in college cause my roomate was indian, I never want to hear that shit again.

Instead of trying to go for all 24 hours of original content, they should have just recycled other content while also having a few original programs as well.
they're laying off "the bulk of the staff, almost 43 employees". they're probably cutting out the original programming, which was what was supposed to make AZN stand out. if it's gonna be all bollywood, HK variety shows, korean dramas, anime, etc...it's gonna basically revert back to being the i-channel. what about asian american content???

[SunWuKong]

So much for the AZN Channel... (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/12/08/apop.DTL)
It's getting axed. I liked the asian american shows, and the standup show, that i caught a few times...but it seems like most times i turned to the channel, it was showing anime. i don't like anime or cartoons, anything animated.

oh damn. that's too bad. i liked the Zen TV show they have which showed short films made by Asian Americans. but their programming was really kind of lacking. it was an uphill battle to begin with though, seeing as how there's really not too much original Asian American media content to air. and somebody would have to risk quite a bit of money to actually produce the original content just to put on a channel targetting at 4% of the population.

[haplesshobo]

they're laying off "the bulk of the staff, almost 43 employees". they're probably cutting out the original programming, which was what was supposed to make AZN stand out. if it's gonna be all bollywood, HK variety shows, korean dramas, anime, etc...it's gonna basically revert back to being the i-channel. what about asian american content???

Its too bad in the sense that its going to make it harder for original asian american programming to get produced.

But, at the same time, I can see why Comcast pulled the plug on this ambitious idea. To me, the business model seemed flawed from the very beginning. I mean the hispanic market is much bigger and growing at a faster rate, yet they don't have a channel for hispanic-americans with 24 hours of original content.

Is there really that much of a demand by asian americans to see programs targeted towards asian americans? I'd say that there are large numbers of asian americans who would actually prefer to see korean dramas or cantonese pop songs over original asian american programming. I've watched some stuff on AZN channel, but I never thought to myself that I what I really wanted was original asian american programming.

Considering the costs of original programming and how small the potential audience is going to be, you really have to question how good the original programming was going to be. Could they spend the money to develop those shows, or would the lack of money make the shows look cheesy.

At the end of the day, those corporations want to be able to target the asian community. But, Comcast had to answer the question whether or not it would be able to reach as many asian-americans with recycled content, which would have been much more cost effective than having to invest all that money into developing original content.

[raacluse]

The article didn't say that the AZN staff was planning to run Asian American programming 24/7. The author wrote that the channel would FEATURE such programming.

But i agree with points made that spending big bucks on original programming is a risk, especially programs targeting a small audience.

Of course, you could argue that good programming should transcend race or ethnicity. And that non-Asians might find certain shows worth watching.

Also, some types of programs, whether good or bad, appeal to a wide audience. Anime, for example, is not restricted to an audience of East Asians.

I was curious about the anime convention phenomenon, so 2 octobers ago, I attended a day of Otakon. I found it similar to a science fiction convention.

One of the panels i sat in on, was about the future plans of the Imaginasian folks. And they mentioned wanting to produce some of their own shows.

And like some of you, I was sceptical. I wasn't sure if the market (distributors, advertisers and audience) would embrace such a channel.

So I asked the panel, why now? This idea, or something close to it, has been bandied about in years past. What made them decide that the time was ripe?

One of the panelists said, 'look around you, look around this convention. There are many people of different backgrounds interested in anime and Asian culture, here.'

It was hard to argue against that, given that Otakon has about 40K attendees. (The con is held in Baltimore, which is not known for its Asian population.)

Nonetheless, it's still dicey whether these ventures (Imaginasian, MTV Chi, etc.) will succeed. I would like them to.

Moreover, I would like to see original programming dealing with Asian Americans (whether talk show, drama, documentary, etc.). Anybody can show Bollywood movies, Korean dramas, or anime.