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NTV Buys Tatsunoko, Talks Future of Gatchaman Crowds
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Hi all!
It was just announced that Nippon Television has bought a controlling interest in Tatsunoko Productions. The company bought 54.3% ownership of the studio from Takara-Tomy, who bought Tatsunoko from the founding Yoshida family in 2005.
When Takara-Tomy purchased the studio in 2005, they had hoped to use it to create synergy between the studio's production and Takara-Tomy's toy lines, but financial difficulties kept Takara-Tomy from fully utilizing their assets. Takara-Tomy has retained a 20.0% interest in the studio. Other major shareholders in the studio include Production I.G, with 11.2%, and entertainment talent agency Hori Pro, with 13.5%.
NTV's president, Yoshio Okubo, said at a press conference that NTV intends "...to integrate the content of Tatsunoko Productions with the planning capabilities and the sales force of the Nippon Television Group, aiming to enhance the corporate value of Tatsunoko Pro."
NTV has plans to use the studio to help expand its anime programming, and to help diversify it's entertainment content. NTV has had ties with movie studio Nikkatsu, and was one of the major sources of funding for the live action Gatchaman movie last summer.
NTV announced a few of their immediate plans for utilizing Tatsunoko's properties. Starting in April, NTV's "Zip!" morning show will introduce a 'mini corner' featuring the characters from Tatsunoko's comedy series "Genie Hakushon." "Zip!" was previously the home of the "Good Morning Ninja Team Gatchaman" comedy shorts.
At NTV's press conference, they also commented that work is progressing on the second "Gatchaman Crowds" TV series, and that they are looking into producing a "Gatchaman Crowds" movie. No release dates for either of these was mentioned.
James
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by tatsunokofan on 29-01-2014 at 17:19.
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