Ask John: Why Doesn’t Moe Anime Air on American TV?

Question:
Why isn’t there an attempt to put moe anime on American TV? I know that Americans have the perceived notion that anime should be dark, edgy and violent, but I think that moe anime such as Lucky Star should be put on TV as well. Is it that shows like that are too cultural specific that only hardcore otaku would get the appeal of? I just feel that there isn’t enough variety when it comes to what types of anime get broadcast here.

Answer:
Despite being a well known fact, much of the time average consumers and viewers forget that typical television networks are commercial operations. They exist to generate profit for their owners and investors. Television networks strive to broadcast free programming that viewers want to watch, but they do so only because offering free popular programming generates tangential profit.

Conventional magical girl series like Pretty Cure air in prime broadcast times in Japan because Japan has a large viewing audience that makes these type of shows very successful and profitable. However, moe anime targeted at the small, hardcore otaku audience is usually relegated to broadcast during the “dead zone” of after midnight. If even Japan, with is larger and more devoted otaku community, can only sustain television broadcasts of moe anime in insignificant and unprofitable late night time slots, moe anime probably has no broadcast potential in America at all.

It’s a well known fact that a large percentage of America’s hardcore anime fans don’t like most moe anime. If even America’s most devoted anime fans won’t watch moe anime, it can be presumed that average, mainstream American television viewers won’t watch it either. Furthermore, American television networks have a corporate responsibility to broadcast programming that’s likely to generate profit, or lead to increased profitability. I can imagine it being extremely difficult to convince an American television network to consider broadcasting programs like Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya because these shows don’t adhere to the established American viewer demographics. These shows aren’t for young girls. They’re not for the average American young men that make shows like South Park, Metalocalypse, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force successful. They’re not suitable for the children that watch SpongeBob SquarePants. They’re not appealing to average, mainstream American viewers that watch The Simpsons and King of the Hill. These shows are targeted at a very narrow, very specific audience, which makes the shows difficult to justify broadcasting, and difficult to sell advertising for. Businesses and advertisers that pay to air commercials on particular networks don’t want to pay to have their commercials aired on networks running programs that attract only a few thousand viewers.

Moe anime is a uniquely Japanese phenomenon. Its appeal is very limited in America, and will always be limited regardless of how much Americans are exposed to it. The hope to see a wider variety of anime broadcast on American TV is admirable, but practical reality insists that hoping for more magical girl, sports, romance, or drama anime aired on American television may be a more viable goal.