NEW YORK — When Michael Hong, the 38-year-old CEO of ImaginAsian Entertainment, was a Korean-American kid growing up here, he'd catch Asian martial-arts films in Manhattan theaters.

Twenty-five years later, media images of Asians have evolved from Bruce Lee to Jet Li. Hong hopes to further broaden the media landscape for Asians through ImaginAsian, a multimedia start-up here that could be on the cusp of hitting the big-time.

Think of ImaginAsian as a fusion of MTV and Black Entertainment Television in their early days. But rather than court only music fans or one ethnic group, ImaginAsian is using many media platforms to target a growing U.S. audience of all ethnicities who like Asian-themed films and home videos, cable TV shows, music and Internet content.

Among ImaginAsian's more popular offerings: Japanese "anime" cartoons such as "Hikaru No Go." Korean-produced soap operas and Bollywood movies from India's prolific film industry. Asian cooking, health and fitness shows. Original shows, including "Uncle Morty's Dub Shack," a sitcom featuring the exploits of funky Asian-American rappers.

ImaginAsian hasn't turned a profit yet and faces tough competition from No. 1 cable operator Comcast's AZN Television, MTV and others that offer Asian media content. But the start-up — which launched in 2003 with four employees in a warehouse in Ridgefield, N.J. — seems to be gaining momentum.

In recent months, ImaginAsian has struck carriage deals with Time Warner, Charter Communications and other cable operators in New York, California, New Jersey, Texas and Hawai'i. They reach 5 million households and hope to double that number this year. Advertisers such as Wal-Mart, Ford, Toyota Motor, Citibank and Sony Pictures have signed on. And ImaginAsian executives say several more major deals are in the works with U.S. and Asian media and entertainment firms.

"No one would even take meetings with us in the beginning," says Hong, a former Nielsen Media Research executive whose immigrant mother raised him in rough neighborhoods in Queens. "Now, we have a lot of options."

COVETED MARKET

ImaginAsian is tapping into the growing mainstream interest in recent years in things Asian, from the popular "Iron Chef" cooking show to action films and dramas such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Memoirs of a Geisha."

Corporations covet the emerging crossover market of Asian-American, immigrant and white consumers — from their teens to their 30s — who are embracing the globalization of the media, products and technology.

Henry Jenkins, co-director of MIT's Comparative Media Studies program and author of "Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide," calls it "pop cosmopolitanism," or the emergence of a new cosmopolitanism that revolves around popular culture.

Corporate advertisers used to ignore the small numbers of Asian-American consumers, says CEO Bill Imada of the IW Group, a marketing firm in Los Angeles.

But in the late 1980s, tobacco, beer and financial firms noticed that ethnic consumers made up a youthful growing market, Imada says. Today, businesses the world over are aiming at that demographic group.

No wonder. The 14 million Asian-Americans in the U.S. boast a median household income in 2004 of $58,000 — the highest of all ethnic groups. Their spending power will grow from $427 billion today to $623 billion by 2010, projects the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth.

ImaginAsian's main revenue comes from advertising. But Hong says the firm enjoys strong year-to-year growth in film distribution, DVD sales and ticket sales from its New York movie theater and a new Los Angeles theater opening this year. ImaginAsian also may garner future revenue from broadband video offered on its Web site.

Edward Lee, ImaginAsian's chief operating officer and co-founder of cable TV technology firm Worldgate Communications, says ImaginAsian will be profitable in 2008 "if it continues to establish its brand name and gain wider distribution of content."

Asian channels have much potential but must break beyond their niches to reach 25 percent to 50 percent of the 60 million U.S. cable TV-viewing households, says Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University's Center for the Study of Popular Television.

One or two big shows can give a huge boost to smaller channels, he says. Millions never watched the Food Network until "Emeril Live" became a hit, or flipped to Bravo until "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" grew popular.

'IT'S ANYBODY'S GAME'

ImaginAsian's strongest rivals: Comcast's AZN Television network and MTV's MTV Chi, MTV Korea and MTV Desi. AZN Television leads the pack, reaching 15 million households in U.S. markets with the top 25 largest Asian-American populations.

AZN offers Asian films from Sony Pictures Television; news, music and comedy from Asia; Japanese "anime" and original programming such as "NBA Timeout" on pro basketball. Its advertising budget will rise 35 percent this year, says Bill Georges, senior vice president at AZN.

"Asian-Americans are an unbelievably dynamic demographic," Georges says. "They deserve content targeted to them."

Industry watchers say it should be a dogfight.

"It's anybody's game at this point," says Jeff Yang, senior director at consumer-research firm Iconoculture and author of "Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence in American Culture." "The challenge for ImaginAsian is to distinguish itself and get a clear amount of headway before bigger players figure out the formula first."

Hong says ImaginAsian's edge comes as a "one-stop shop in the Asian space" that offers content, advertising, cable TV, theaters and home entertainment distribution. ImaginAsian's bicultural experience and contacts overseas also are a big strength.

"We not only know the market, but live it," he says.