DreamWorks Animation Inc. plans to launch a TV channel in 19 Asian countries next year, the Glendale studio announced.

The channel will use 2,000 hours of programming from the DreamWorks library as well as more than 1,200 half-hours of original animation currently in production. Singapore-based HBO Asia will manage affiliate sales, marketing and technical support for the channel.

Territories covered will include Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam Singapore and Malaysia. DreamWorks expects to start broadcasting in the second half of 2015.

The DreamWorks channel marks the first time the company will run its own TV channel, but it has expanded TV distribution with recent deals with Netflix and Super RTL, a broadcaster in Germany.

In Asia, the company signed a joint venture agreement in July to build an indoor theme park in the Yangtze River Delta China and in 2012 it formed another deal to build a studio in Shanghai.

“Audiences in the region have always embraced our content and now they can engage with their favorite DreamWorks characters — as well as new ones — where and when they choose, across multiple-screens and in local languages,” Eric Ellenbogen, co-head of DreamWorks International TV, said in a statement.

Shares closed down 9 cents or less than 1 percent to $21.71 on the Nasdaq.