Just before the New Year on December 31st, Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) has officially closed down the ANIMAX channel in Spain.
This makes the Sixth European country, after Portugal and Eastern Europe (Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic & Slovakia), that closed down the anime brand, which leaves the Germany’s 24 hour anime channel & United Kingdom’s video-on-demand service its only presence in the continent.
ANIMAX in the Iberian Peninsula was launched in 2007 as an anime block on the general entertainment channel AXN, and became a stand-alone channel in 2008.
The channel started as a 24 hour anime channel, but subsequently added Western Programming to boost its ratings, which is similar to the channel’s line-up in Latin America (before it was rebranded as Sony Spin in 2011) and the defunct South African channel. The Portuguese channel was closed down in 2011 due to low-ratings, and was replaced by AXN Black.
During the time of its closure, the Spanish channel is only airing two (2) anime programmes, which are Kochikame and Yakitate! Japan.
The final moments of the channel can be seen on this YouTube video by “kingoftvsat”
