Japan had been transmitting some programs in color since 1960, however, not all Japanese studios had converted their operations to color. To complicate matters, not all Japanese networks were interested in buying expensive color film series which were considered vehicles for selling commercial airtime, especially programs aimed primarily at children. Some broadcasters (such as NHK, TBS, NET and Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation) had embraced color as the emerging and more engaging format, but others such as Fuji TV were unwilling to buy or co-finance color programming without a guarantee of commercial return or sponsored support. Fuji TV had broadcast the popular color series "Jungle Emperor" (ジャングル大帝 - "Janguru Taitei") in 1965, but this would not have been filmed in color at all without the pre-sale of the series to U.S. distributor NBC Films for broadcast in the United States as "Kimba the White Lion" (on the NBC Network which, at the time, insisted that it be supplied color programming by its distributors, the network using color as a promotional tool to attract both sponsors and viewers alike).