ITV

Category: Kids

  • Nick, Sonic & Nick Jr gear up for an enthralling festive season

    Nick, Sonic & Nick Jr gear up for an enthralling festive season

    MUMBAI: With the festive season around the corner, Nickelodeon – India’s leading kid’s entertainment franchise is geared up for a fun filled quarter. Starting with Motu Patlu, Rudra and Shiva on Nick to Golmaal Jr, Pakdam Pakdai and Ninja Hattori on SONIC, the months ahead will see a gamut of movies and new seasons to keep our young viewers entertained. The franchise has kickstarted the festive bonanza with Rudra spreading his “Magic” on Nick along with an unmatched dose of pranks and adventure with the Golmaal Jr. gang on SONIC. 

    The Nickelodeon campaign will be brought to life through an interactive contest where kids need to tune in to all new episodes of Rudra Mon-Fri 7:25 pm, give missed calls on the unique number flashing on their television screens and stand a chance to win a specially curated magic box. The campaign will be further amplified on digital and social with interactive games and gifs and a whole lot of ambient visibility and ground swell in key metros like Mumbai with mall chains like Inorbit, Infinity, Oberoi to name a few.

    SONIC will be adding the sparkle and a whole lot of masti to your Diwali plans with the ultimate adventures and comic capers of the Golmaal Jr gang with all new episodes every day at 1:30pm, to keep kids entertained and the festive spirit alive. This campaign will be further amplified with a high decibel cross channel TV plan with spots on popular GECs, music and movie channels, engaging content across social media and video platforms like Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook along with specially designed ads on You tube keeping in mind the spirit of mischief. We will also see spots in 150 cinema screens for the mega festive blockbuster release Houseful 4 across key HSM U markets. The ground swell will further be amplified through ambient media in malls across crucial markets. The visibility will be further strengthened with strategic alliances, van activations in multiple states and a lot more.

    The festive mania will continue across the franchise with Nick Jr., where we’ll give young kids a dream opportunity to win a play date jamboree with their favorite Peppa Pig. All they need to do is click a selfie while watching new episodes on their television screens and upload their picture on www.NickJrIndia.com and they could be one of the many winners for Nick Jr’s Play Date with Peppa.

  • Sony YAY!’s consolidation plan in regional markets

    Sony YAY!’s consolidation plan in regional markets

    MUMBAI: As per BARC India data, Sony YAY! continues to remain in the top three positions for the past few weeks. In week 41 the channel grabbed second position with 87898 weekly impressions (000s). The channel says its extensive plan starting from Dussehra to New Year has been one of the reasons in getting the top-three position. As part of its plan, the channel is airing three new movies of Honey Bunny during Diwali and four movies to be launched during the Christmas–New Year period.

    Sony YAY! launched Honey Bunny in Gangs of Filmcity on 6 October, Honey Bunny & The Cricket Gang on 13 October and Honey Bunny in a Crazy Family Adventure on 20 October.

    In an interaction with Indiantelevision.com Sony YAY! business head Leena Lele Dutta highlighted the factors that have propelled the growth of the channel. She said, “We are 30 months old in the market and we are one of the top three kids channels. The growth of the channel has been propelled by two reasons. The first is our content being available in seven regional languages and other reason is doubling the volume of our shows.”

    She explained further, “We are actually catering to kids who consume content in regional languages on a day to day basis and affinity for them to see content in that language is even stronger as they are better able to identify with the characters. We have doubled the number of episodes of a show that has helped us to give fresh content on a regular basis. So, it’s a combination of regionalisation and airing new episodes at a rampant pace.”

    Dutta also believes that ground marketing initiatives have also added to the growth. She said, “Our BTL initiative in our key market and our entire marketing push to connect with kids have helped us in getting the top three positions in the last 13 weeks.”

    Dutta also revealed her plans for festive seasons. She said, “There are two times in a year which are critical. One is the summer season of April, May and June and the other one is festive season starting from Dussehra to New Year. It’s a long period where there are short bursts of holidays which comes in and out and that also varies from market to market. We started festive offering with Honey and Bunny’s new episodes and movies from Dussehra which will continue till Diwali and end with Christmas – New Year. So during each of those long holidays we introduced movies and new episodes of Honey Bunny ka Jholmaal.”

    The channel will follow the same template for Diwali. Dutta informed that there will be three movies during the Diwali weekend and four during Christmas and New Year i.e. three of Honey Bunny and one of Kicko. They will be accompanied by below the line marketing activities such as Durga Puja pandal activation in Kolkata and Honey Bunny branded Dandiya in Ahmedabad and Surat.

    “In Diwali, we plan to roll-out pan-India activation across almost 70 cities. We will be going below tier 2 and tier 3 cities because our content is available in the regional language for those markets. The popularity of our toons and the connection with them is much stronger there. We plan to continue with our movie-binge in December towards the last 10 ten days starting with Christmas till New Year. So, that’s how we have phased our offering. We don’t do an on air activation, we always combine it with our ground efforts and marketing initiatives,” Dutta said.

    Dutta also informed that the channel will not have any new IPs for some time as it wants to focus on consolidating the present IPs. She said, “Right now we are consolidating our position in the regional market. If we look at the data in those individual markets, it says we have exclusive language feed. For example in Kerala we have exclusive feed in Malayalam, so no other kids channels have that, even in West Bengal and Maharashtra we are the number one channel in those markets. We have maintained that leadership for a very long time. Now to get into consolidating with our numbers and viewership in six markets is critical.”

    Going further she said, “We are also doing a lot of initiatives with local cable operators in regional markets. We are offering contests via operators to kids to watch Honey Bunny and wins prizes. That’s basically our localisation plan. The more we spread out to getting into the markets where we have regional feeds, we see traction and growth. West Bengal, Maharashtra and Kerala are the states where we see major traction coming from.”

  • Abhishek Dutta appointed as network head for Cartoon Network and POGO in South Asia

    Abhishek Dutta appointed as network head for Cartoon Network and POGO in South Asia

    MUMBAI: Abhishek Dutta has been named Senior Director and Network Head -Kids, overseeing Cartoon Network and POGO in South Asia. Based in Mumbai, his responsibilities include programming, channel operations, acquisitions and promotions, as well as the content direction for the two brands.

    WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks South Asia Managing Director Siddharth Jain said, “Abhishek brings with him a strong kids industry experience and I am confident that he will raise the bar of the kids’ portfolio and capitalise on the opportunities that lie ahead of us. I welcome Abhishek to the WarnerMedia family.”

    Dutta will also be working closely with and under the direction of Leslie Lee, VP of Kids Content, WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks APAC.

    Dutta has more than two decades of experience and expertise in the media and entertainment industry. He has been a part of four successful TV channel launches as well as a digital platform focussing on kids in India. Besides his creative and programming skills, his technical skills include sound recording, voicing, music mixing and editing.

    Dutta added, “The kids TV category has become more exciting than ever before. With my new role at the helm of Cartoon Network and POGO in South Asia, I am looking forward to driving the current business through its next phase of growth. This set of brands are not only first movers, but also the most established kids brands in the country.”

    His career includes stints at ALT Balaji, Discovery Networks India and, most recently, was Senior Kids Programming Director at Viacom18, a company he joined in 2016. His various roles have included programming, channel operations and management, content development and acquisitions, and animation development.

    Dutta is a sports enthusiast and has won multiple honours for volleyball and handball. He has also been involved in the National Cadets Corps and has represented his platoon as the commander in India’s Republic Day parade.

  • Fukrey Boyzzz’s ad inventory sold out even before its launch

    Fukrey Boyzzz’s ad inventory sold out even before its launch

    MUMBAI – Fukrey Boyzzz, a rib-tickling production, from Discovery Kids in association with Excel Entertainment, which captures the innocent and harmless masti/ mischief of kids, has received very positive response to the trailer launch. The yet to be launched series which is based on the super hit Bollywood franchise ‘Fukrey’ and ‘Fukrey Returns’,has attracted significant traction from leading advertisers. The show which promises to make you ROFL premieres on Oct 12 on Discovery Kids at 1:30 pm and 7:30 pm.

    “We knew, we had a winner at hand, the moment we saw first glimpse of the show,” said, Discovery  Head of Advertising Sales – South Asia Vikram Tanna 

    Leading advertisers such as Britannia Cakes and Complan have come on board as ‘Co-Powered by’ sponsors while Parle Magix, Dettol, Godrej Appliances, Mamy Poko and Crax have come on board as Associate Sponsors.

    Fukrey Boyzzz is Discovery Kids’ second IP based on Bollywood. Earlier, the channel revolutionized the revolutionized the Indian animation industry with ‘Little Singham’ – an animation series inspired by India’s most successful Supercop brand ‘Singham’.“This strong vindication from the advertising community is a testimony to the strength of Discovery Kids channel as well as our orientation to deliver value to our clients,” added, Vikram. “We have more interest coming in, but we don’t have inventory left to sell.”

  • “Sheikh Chilli & Friendz” are here to rule the world !!

    “Sheikh Chilli & Friendz” are here to rule the world !!

    One Take Media Co. is happy to announce the agreement reached with Apsons Entertainment (Mayapuri group,owners of Lotpot – kids comic magazine) for overseas distribution of World famous series “Sheikh Chilli & Friendz” for World Territories (except SAARC). This show has 104 Episodes of 11 minutes each.

    The rights are open for broadcast platforms and OTT platforms globally (except SAARC region). In India this show is successfully running on Discovery Kids and has millions of followers.

    The stories in this series have been designed keeping in mind today’s children, who are modern and have gadgets. The stories are light and are based in events linked to the children’s lives and have action, drama, and fun.

    The main characters of Sheikh Chilli and Friendz are 9-year old Sheikh Chilli, who lives in a town called Jhunjhun Nagariya. He is a sweet and innocent lad and has some good
    Friends. He has a friend Bulbul who talks a lot but is dumb-witted. Mallika is Sheikh Chill’s dear friend and very intelligent. Then we have “The One And Only” Khatkoo, who is just 6 inches tall and stays in Sheikh Chilli’s pocket. Noorie Jinn was found by Sheikh Chilli in a bottle. He comes out of the bottle only when Sheikh Chilli recites the magic words and does only what Sheikh Chilli asks him to do. Buri is a sorceress and is out to get the necklace with the blue diamond worn by Noorie Jinn. Another character is Gama, Sheikh Chilli’s class-mate but a bully and always troubling Sheikh Chilli. Lootera is the stupid thief who is always trying to rob everybody but does not succeed because of Sheikh Chilli’s gang.

    Mr. Aman Bajaj – Publisher (Owner) – Mayapuri Group – Lotpot magazine, with 30+ years of experience in production and animation.His team is developing multiple IP characters of Lotpot kids magazine like Motu Patlu ,Sheikh Chilli & Neetu.

    He has told “Sheikh Chilli & Friendz stories are based on magic and fantasy. The characters are based in the modern world and are well equipped with technology so that kids of this generation can connect to them “. Also, Shekhar Chopra, CEO of Lotpot has said “We are happy to collaborate with One Take Media Co. This association will take Sheikh Chilli & Friendz to global territories.”

    OTMC is one of leaders in providing value Added Services to DTH, Telecom ,OTT and Cable industries, services include Hollywood Movies, Hollywood Movies dubbed in Hindi,  Kid Animated Movies/shows, Celebrity based Cooking show and Korean TV series.

    Mr. Anil Khera , CEO & Founder of One Take Media says “ We are very confident that this acquisition of Sheikh Chilli & Friendz for global distribution would prove to be a successful bet. We are constantly striving towards offering new media and content to our viewers. Watching Sheikh Chilli& Friendz will be a complete delight for our audience’s world over “

  • Sony Pictures Networks India supports ‘Govt. Schools get ‘Smart’ with its CSR programme ‘YAY! Vidya’

    Sony Pictures Networks India supports ‘Govt. Schools get ‘Smart’ with its CSR programme ‘YAY! Vidya’

    MUMBAI: With a vision to provide tech enabled education facilities to the future of the country, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has associated with EdTech start-up, ‘ConnectEd Technologies’ to convert government schools across Mumbai, Panvel and Raigad, into ‘Smart Schools’ under its CSR programme ‘YAY! Vidya’. Under this programme, SPN will provide access to smart classroom systems powered by ConnectEd Technologies in Marathi to over 50,000 students.

    The classrooms are powered with solutions designed specifically for government schools to integrate tailor-made educational content into conventional teaching practices on a daily basis, thereby providing a better learning environment and academic experience. The study material is aligned with the State Board curriculum optimized for government school students with a robust and sustainable hardware, while still being easy to operate and navigate through for teachers. ’YAY! Vidya’ is one of the largest independent EdTech efforts aimed at municipal schools and has already benefited over 12,000 students across Maharashtra. This program aims at bridging the gap in education and aiding the betterment of society. SPN is committed to co-creating India’s social development agenda through empowering communities and creating a positive impact in society.

    SPN’s CSR programme is built around three pillars; empowerment, education and environment and ‘YAY! Vidya’ falls under the education pillar of SPN’s CSR programme. 

  • Hit series ‘Bablu Dablu Ki Froggy Gang’ is here to entertain

    Hit series ‘Bablu Dablu Ki Froggy Gang’ is here to entertain

    MUMBAI: One Take Media Co.(OTMC)is happy to bring the hit 3D animation series “Bablu Dablu Ki Froggy Gang”. The rights are forSAARC countries. There are 104 episodesavailable in English ,Hindi and other languages.

    “ Bablu Dablu Ki Froggy Gang” is so titled for a reason. This new animation comes from the house of Fantawild who has given all the super Hit tv series Bablu Dablu (Bonnie Bears). The new series  features a frog, a pond and other creatures. In fact, the frog named Bablu Joe Croaker—is good friends with a fly, Cosmo. Joe Croaker and his pal Dablu Cosmo live in a marsh with many of their friends, both of the animal and insect variety.They go on several adventures together and, occasionally, butt heads but they always manage to remain friends. This wonderful animated video does a terrific job in showcasing what friendship is all about—loyalty, forgiveness, and spending quality time together—as well as being there when things aren’t so great. Joe is a delightful character, with a hearty and funny laugh and he always rushes headlong into things. Cosmo is the level-headed fly that helps keep him straight.

    OTMC is one of the leaders in providing value Added Services to DTH, Telecom and Cable industries, services include Hollywood Movies, Hollywood Movies dubbed in Hindi & regional languages , Kids Animation Movies& Series Celebrity based Cooking show and Korean Content

    One Take Media Co, Founder & CEO MrAnil Khera said “Watching animated series is the exciting part of our childhood. We are pleased to showcaseBablu Dablu Ki Froggy Gangserieswhichincorporates vivid colours, rich characters, funny scenes, and the loyalty of friends. This provides family-suitable adventure and entertainment. So, dive into the Bablu Dablu Ki Froggy Gangseries for a whole new adventureand we are sure you won't want to miss a single episode!
     

  • Disney and Star India take part inthe largest meal packing activity for rise against hunger india by packing 700,000 meals

    Disney and Star India take part inthe largest meal packing activity for rise against hunger india by packing 700,000 meals

    MUMBAI: Thousands of Disney VoluntEARS in India came together to celebrate Disney VoluntEARS Week (September 16-20) and packed over 700,000 meals for local communities across six cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Trivandrum. This is the largest meal packing activity for Rise Against Hunger India.

    This year, over 4000 employees from Disney and Star India came together to give forward and became heroes in their local communities. They dedicated one hour each towards packing meals that comprised of dry uncooked rice, dal, dehydrated vegetables and a micronutrient blend of 23 essential vitamins and minerals. In addition to packing meals, Disney VoluntEARS coloured Mickey themed greeting cards for children in hospitals.

    “We are proud to collaborate with Rise Against Hunger India on this milestone achievement. We are thrilled to see such high levelenthusiasm amongst our employees to come together and pack over 700,000 meals this year,” said Sanjay Gupta, Country Manager, Star and Disney India. “It is our pleasure tojoin hands with the NGO in their movement to distribute food and life-changing aid to the local underprivileged community,” he added.

    “Rise Against Hunger India is honored to have Disney as one of its biggest supporters and donors, helping our movement towards a hunger-free India. The current engagement is by far our biggest single-donor and multi-location event.  Disney VoluntEARS have always displayed tremendous spirit of volunteerism, compassion and concern for others.  With such committed and compassionate hunger warriors, we are sure the goal of Zero Hunger by 2030 will be achieved without a doubt,” said Dola Mohapatra, Executive Director, Rise Against Hunger India.

    Disney in India has had a long-standing relationship with Rise Against Hunger India partnering with them in 2016 and 2018. 

    The Disney VoluntEARS program started in India since the official launch of the brand in 2004. Last year, 465 Disney VoluntEARS supported various charitable events, and contributed over 1000 hours across India. 

  • Discovery Kids’ eyes top 3, improved time spent with ‘Fukrey Boyzzz’

    Discovery Kids’ eyes top 3, improved time spent with ‘Fukrey Boyzzz’

    MUMBAI: Discovery Kids is all set to achieve its goal to be in the top three positions of the kids' genre and probably address the issue of time spent on the channel with the strategic launch of Fukrey Boyzzz. In an interaction with Indiantelevision.com, Discovery Kids business head Uttam Pal Singh informed that the channel has gained its viewership back post NTO regime but it needs to address the challenge of time spent and hopes the new show will help there.

    When Discovery managing director South Asia Megha Tata joined the company in April 2019, she made the kids genre as a crucial focus area with an aim to raise its level to the top three channels.

    Tata admitted that the kids' genre hasn't grown dramatically in the last few years. It is stuck in a particular space and has become more competitive. As a result, there are more players entering the space but the share is not growing.

    Singh said that the aim is to invest, invent and innovate the content to engage with as well as expand audiences. “In the kids’ genre, there is a plethora of content targeted at 4-8 years, however, there is a prominent white space for content targeted at pre-teens broadly bracketed between 8-14 years old. With Fukrey Boyzzz and its hilarious ensemble of Choocha, Hunny, Lalli and Bholi, we are launching a new contemporary series which will have a much wider appeal. In fact, we are confident that this innocent fun feast will attract co-viewing – parents watching along with their children.”

    “Fukrey Boyzzz is an apt representation of our ambition in the kids’ genre.  We will continue to innovate and invest heavily in the genre with an aim to be a consistent top 3 player,” said, Tata at the launch of the series. “We are also working towards skinning the Fukrey Boyzzz IP in multiple ways including launching branded merchandise.”
     
    “The launch of Fukrey Boyzzz opens new horizons for us. We are making our foray into animation and are enamoured with how this series has shaped-up. I am extremely excited to have characters from our film Fukrey spread joy to everyone with their crazy antics at school,” said Excel Entertainment co-founder Ritesh Sidhwani as the show preview was unveiled.

    Last year, the channel also premiered a similar animated series called Little Singham which was adopted from the Bollywood movie Singham.

    "Little Singham has done really well for us; it was a Bollywood movie which became a fabulous kids franchise making Little Singham the most-loved animated character in the country today. One of the things that we learned from Little Singham is that it’s not just about creating an animated series out of a successful Bollywood movie, it’s important to make it relatable to our target audience i.e., kids and package it with the right storytelling. We have got all those things in place with Fukrey Boyzzz. The series will bring another disruption like Little Singham in the kids genre and it will also take us to towards our goal to be in the top three positions," she said.

    Fukrey Boyzzz is the animated series of Bollywood franchise Fukrey and Fukrey Returns which is set to premiere on 12 October on Discovery Kids. Discovery Kids will air 156 episodes in season 1 at 1.30 pm and 7.30 pm every day in six languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and English.  The channel will launch an aggressive marketing campaign based on the core ethos of the show ‘Friends + Masti = Fukrapanti’.  Fukrey Boyzzz is produced by award-winning production house Paper Boat for Discovery Kids. 

  • Discovery Kids to launch animated series ‘Fukrey Boyzzz’ on 12 October

    Discovery Kids to launch animated series ‘Fukrey Boyzzz’ on 12 October

    MUMBAI: Discovery Kids is all set to up the ante with the introduction of fun filled animated series ‘Fukrey Boyzzz’ based on superhit Bollywood franchise ‘Fukrey’ and ‘Fukrey Returns’. The channel will start broadcasting the series ‘Fukrey Boyzzz’ on October 12th, 2019 onwards at 1.30 PM and 7.30 PM everyday.

    Furkey Boyzzz is the second series inspired by the bollywood movie Fukrey and Fukrey Returns. Similarly, before this the channel also laucnhed ‘Little Singham’ – an animation series inspired by India’s most successful Supercop brand ‘Singham’.

    Excel Entertainment’s movie Fukrey, a fun-filled comic caper with quirky characters, captured the imagination of the audiences. Fukery Boyzzz is all set to take the fun and quirk quotient higher with the animated avatars of Hunny, Choocha, Laali and Bholi Punjaban along with all other characters in the movie. Fukrey Boyzzz will be launched in 6 languages, English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada only on the Discovery Kids Channel.

    “For the first time ever, Excel Entertainment will be extending itself to developing content for kids with Fukrey Boyzzz. This is a huge step forward for us and brings with it, its own sense of accomplishment,” said, Excel Entertainment Co-Founder Ritesh Sidhwani. “The nuances of Kids TV are very different from that of cinema; it requires adapting characters, their scenarios in a different yet relatable setting. However, the good part is that the plot and characters of the movie Fukrey lend themselves beautifully to interpretation in animation. Fukrey Boyzzz will take you on an endless laugh riot!”

    “We are confident ‘Fukrey Boyzzz’ will be our next big disrupter in the Kids genre. The Indian animation industry has done extremely well over the last year and has delivered great IPs however almost all of them are targeted at children ranging from 4-8 years. Fukrey Boyzzz is based on friendship, massti and slice of fukrapanti with quirky characters, it has the potential to expand our audience base beyond kids with parents watching the show along with them and sharing a great laugh together,” said, Discovery Kids Business Head Uttam Pal Singh.  “We will work with Excel entertainment to skin the full potential of this IP in the most impactful manner.”

    The crazy trio Hunny, Choocha and Laali, are a true embodiment of Discovery Kids’ brand purpose – Super Heropanti with their crazy cute antics and their jugaad ideas while trying to navigate through school life and outwit their arch-nemesis Bholi Punjaban.