Category: Kids

Kids today watch more animated content than ever

MUMBAI: Despite the advent of interesting live action and feature films for kids, data suggests that animated content still rules the roost. According to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data, consumption of non-animated content has decreased considerably in 2017 from 2012.

During 2012, although the animation genre garnered a majority of the viewership, the eyeballs that were grabbed by feature films and live action programmes for kids was not insignificant. The animation genre garnered 71 per cent of traction, whereas feature films gained 18 per cent of viewers and 11 per cent of viewership was observed in the live action programmes genre.

For analysis, 2012 and 2017’s viewership for animation, live action programmes and feature films in the urban markets in India were compared by BARC. The viewership data was analysed for the 4-14 years of age group in the year 2012, whereas kids in the age group of 2-14 years were analysed during the year 2017.

”I believe ‘building a connect’ is the key when it comes to our audience. While doing extensive research for our channel, Sony Yay, we discovered kids have a larger-than-life imagination and relate to characters basis affinity for them,” says Sony Pictures Network kids genre business head Leena Lele Dutta. “We feel continuous innovations in TV content and offering audiences with endearing characters and compelling stories, which also appeal to their imagination, help in creating a win-win scenario for both.”

In 2017, the viewership of animation increased to 89 per cent. Feature films dipped from 18 per cent in 2012 to 8 per cent in 2017. Talking about the live action programmes, the viewership in 2017 drastically decreased in the last five years. Live action was left with just 2 per cent.

The trend observed clearly shows that kids’ channels are betting more on animation driven by international content dubbed in local languages and even locally produced content. Doraemon, Chhota Bheem and Motu Patlu are among the most watched shows.

Although 60 per cent of the total kids’ viewership on TV in 2012 was by the 9-14 years age bracket, it contributes only 48 per cent viewership of kids’ channels in this year.

Talking about the kids’ viewership prime time slots, kids viewership starts rising from early morning hours and peaks in the early afternoon. Viewership does not witness any substantial increase post 6 pm, as kids lose control of remote to parents. This potentially reflects co-viewing.

December 4, 2017
Nickelodeon bags array of sponsors for Kids Choice Awards 2017

MUMBAI: Nickelodeon is all set to kick off the awards season- – Kids Choice Awards (KCA), with an opportunity to vote for their favourites across multiple categories and decide who will take home the iconic Nickelodeon blimp. Dabur Red Paste has come on board as presenting sponsor, JollyRancher as powered by sponsor along with Yellow Diamond and Funskool. The event will take place on 15 December 2017 at NSCI Dome, Mumbai.

Viacom18 kids’ cluster business head Nina Elavia Jaipuria said, “This being Viacom18’s 10th anniversary year, and Nickelodeon being one of the founding brands the network launched with, KCA will be bigger, better, louder and slimier than ever before!”

“Through Nickelodeon and KCA, Dabur Red Paste plans to further spread the message about dental hygiene. Also to educate children about best oral care practices with a focused and specially crafted campaign along with some fun and entertainment”, said Dabur India marketing head (oral care) Harkawal Singh.

The gala event will feature some enthralling performances by numerous Bollywood and television personalities like Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Kriti Sanon and Badshah amongst others, anchored by the popular comedian Bharti Singh and actor Rithvik Dhanjani.

The expansive marketing campaign will have promotions with an extensive cross channel plan, large scale on-ground, ambient engagement and interesting online interactivity. In addition, numerous touchpoints spanning consumer & trade print, radio spots have been planned. An extensive digital and social media buzz and engagement campaign will leverage the combined clout of Viacom18’s social media assets from its varied brand portfolio.

November 24, 2017
Kids prefer entertainment over edutainment on TV

MUMBAI: Broadcasters’ various attempts at creating content that can get children hooked has repeatedly turned up one result – animation entertainment is what each child comes for.

The OTTV Kids and Animation Summit 2017’s saw a session on ‘the content and storytelling strategies for kids’ with panelists-Hungama Kids Artist Aloud original content VP Soumini Paul, animation screenwriter Vivek Shukla, Discovery Kids Network head of content Uttam Pal Singh, Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle group creative director Neel Debdutt Paul and Avant Garde Films founder, CEO and content creator Sohini Mitra. The panel was moderated by Dveo Media CEO Deepak Ramsurrun.

Discovery’s Singh highlighted that it is exploring more entertainment content for kids aged 2-14. Instead of forcing them to watch particular content, the channel is internally conducting research to understand their tastes.

Mitra said that apart from rhyming kids content, which is a rage on her channel catering to 3-year-old kids, kids are guzzling humour and action-based series. She added that parents play a key role to get kids to watch content at a specific time.

Whether one should mix education with this content was the question of the day. S Paul drives home the point by saying, “According to me, educational content, by itself, is boring. The topics we take up, which could be generic, educational or even learn-the-basics kind, are done in a fun and simple manner.”

Adding more to the context, N Paul said that children don’t want to be bogged down with educational content on screens after they’ve had a heavy dose of the same in school and tuition.

Agreeing to Neel’s point, Singh said that obviously, parents must be worried and concerned about what their kids are watching. However, when it comes to watching their favourite content, children do not like it when they see the shadow of their parents or teachers in their favourite cartoon characters. Questions like ‘Did you have your milk?’ will only turn them off.

Ramsurrun asked whether content is selected on the basis of market trends or new ones are experimented with. To which, Mitra said that both things go hand in hand. “Originality is very important. However, at the same time, market trends are also important. As a mother I observe that my son gets tired of seeing the same content repeatedly, so this a market trend for me as an animator. We do a lot of research and then find new content.” Shukla also reiterated the need for original content. “We can have mythological shows but I do not favour copied content,” he said.

Giving an alternative viewpoint, Singh said that cartoons like Doraemon or Chhota Bheem are always repeated but children are still hooked. “They do look out for original content, but they take time to know these new characters,” he added.

S Paul brought in economics into the discussion by saying that local content production needs high budgets. “We have a small team but if we have basic resources, we can get into producing local content. If we talk about acquiring the content, the budget is certainly a consideration.”

Singh added that children don’t bother to know where content has been acquired from or whether it is original or not. They just need to see their favourites on screen and be entertained by them.

With umpteen numbers of foreign shows available at their disposal such as Doraemon, children will not prefer to watch the likes of Kaali Gufa ka Jaadu. The superior quality of animation is something India is still catching up to.

Concluding the panel discussion, Shukla emphasised the need for improving the quality and content of originals. He said, “What made Chhota Bheem work? The story and the content were good, but what next? We need to move ahead and get more local original content for kids.”

November 23, 2017
Reality shows: Kids’ personal lives come into focus

MUMBAI: Children-based reality shows or talent-based shows are gaining in popularity in India. But do they leave behind unwholesome after effects on the little contestants?

Exploring this question at the OTTV Kids & Animation 2017 on 22 November were Frames co-founder Ranjeet Thakur, singer and musician Abhas Joshi, Billabong High International School – Santacruz principal Kusum Kanwar and moderator Dveo Media CEO Deepak Ramsurrun. They spoke on the topic ‘Do kids’ reality shows have more negative than positive impact on participants & young audiences.’

Thakur has been producing reality shows for years and stated that they have remained the same as the talent-based shows that have been on TV since always.

Joshi, who has been on shows like Sa Re Ga Ma Pa in 2004 and Jury’s Choice Voice of India, feels that shows today have changed since the last decade. Though the shows start off with the motive to promote talent, within a few episodes, the focus shifts to unravelling the personal lives of contestants. This also leads to bias in votes for those with interesting backgrounds.

Kanwar agreed with Joshi’s views and admitted, “Children get a talent platform but after that are we scaffolding them. Do we have a cushioning for them to understand the success and failure that comes with it? I guess we are not doing that.” She revealed that there have been instances where kids skip studies in favour of these shows. She added, “Today reality shows are catching the emotional side of the audience for TRPs and other reasons.” Clarifying that she is not against the competition but when children realise that certain shows are scripted or the outcome is known, it eventually becomes difficult for a child to cope with that. Counsellors should guide children about both the positive and negative sides of these shows.

To counter that, Thakur said that channels comply with government rules and have a psychologist, dietitian, nutritionist and doctors on the sets 24X7. He added, “We make sure that parents are around the children and that they are rested and given enough help and support from counsellors, psychologists and parents. We do not shoot for more than 10 hours a day.”

However, Kanwar, said that channels’ focus on ‘star’ parents also adds to their experience of fame and they start living in a virtual world. “In the class, we have to treat them in the same way as others but due to this the kid’s curriculum and everyday interaction suffer. So, it’s misleading and a dichotomy actually.” Her school has a team of five counsellors and special educators to get the children back into reality.

Sharing his experience from 2004, Joshi said it wasn’t so glamorous then. But today, kids become popular at a young age and get into the professional world, minting money at an unfair age. This leads to a change in their attitude and they leave the grooming part behind which can eventually end their careers in four to five years.

Thakur has travelled to the smallest of towns in search of talent and found how gifted children don’t have opportunities. These children have the chance to turn their family’s fate. “We have seen positive impacts on various families across the country,” he said.

Sticking to her point, Kanwar countered that while changing the fate of the family, kids have gone through a lot of pressure of earning money. She strongly felt that kids should be told and shown the career path after they complete their 10th or 12th standard education.

She pointed out that kids are made to do unimaginable things such as flirting with a female judge six times his age on a show recently, making it difficult to bring back their innocence. Thakur agreed that drama is inserted in reality show to make them look ‘cool’.

The panel concluded with stating that parents need to keep children grounded while reality shows need to have proper management methods to not negatively impact children.

November 23, 2017
Discovery Kids to launch ‘Sunny Bunnies’ in India

MUMBAI: Discovery Kids has announced a deal with Media I.M Incorporated, a London-based content distribution company, to premiere the hit animation series Sunny Bunnies in India.

Under the three-year deal, which covers the pay-TV, simulcast and catch-up rights, Discovery Kids will air the first and second seasons of the short format non-dialogue comedy starting this November. Discovery Kids is the first Indian broadcaster to take Sunny Bunnies, bringing the total number of territories across the world to air the series to more than 160.

Discovery Kids head Uttam Pal Singh said, ‘’We are delighted to offer differentiated content like Sunny Bunnies and be a part of the world premiere of this unique comedy series. This fascinatingly crafted short format series and the mischievous characters, has all the elements to captivate and engage with the kids in India.”

Media IM co-founder Maria Ufland said: “Introducing Sunny Bunnies to Indian kids has long been an ambition, and Discovery Kids is the dream partner to launch our little friends on their Indian adventure. India is not only one of the biggest, most vibrant and exciting markets in the world but it’s also an extremely challenging one to break into, which makes this deal a genuine milestone for Media I.M. And we know Indian children will love this show as much as their counterparts around the world”

The Sunny Bunnies are five beaming balls that can appear anywhere there is a source of light, from sunshine to moonlight. In each episode, the cheeky creatures bring their fun and games to a different location — a circus, a sports stadium, a park — embarking on mischievous adventures and spreading laughter and happiness. And at the end of every episode, the fun continues with a collection of bloopers.

November 16, 2017
Hungama’s ‘Chacha Bhatija’ to go on a new adventure in second movie

MUMBAI: Hungama channel’s famous jasoos jodi, Chacha Bhatija, have entertained young audiences with episodes full of dhamaal and masti and in no time the animated series has become one of the most-loved shows on the channel.

After the overwhelming response from fans towards the series and the first Chacha Bhatija movie – ‘Khazane Ki Khoj’, Hungama Channel is back with another feature that promises double masti, double dhamaal as the detective duo go on a new investigative journey in ‘Golmaal Hai Bhai Sab Golmaal Hai’.

This time, the jasoos jodi are embroiled in a tricky situation themselves! Chacha gets accused of stealing a precious stone from the historical crown and so to prove his uncle’s innocence, Bhatija and Chacha both have to travel back in time through Khoji’s time machine. And this marks the beginning of ‘double trouble’ filled ride spruced with lots of chaos, confusion and comedy.

Chacha Bhatija’s ‘Golmaal Hai Bhai Sab Golmaal Hai’ will be telecast at (10 am), Sunday, 19th November on Hungama Channel.

November 14, 2017
Turner India & Rajgreen Group launch theme park worth Rs 450 cr

MUMBAI: Turner India is giving a larger-than-life feel to its characters. A new amusement park in Surat – Amaazia – is the result of a partnership between the broadcaster and Rajgreen group of companies.

Scheduled to open in 2019, the park will serve as a medium for Turner’s kids channel Cartoon Network (CN) to launch new products and conduct ‘meet and greets’ with its animated characters. Out of the four sections in Amaazia, only the theme park is branded by CN. The rest are a water park, family recreational hub and a service apartment and retail shopping area.

Australia’s Sanderson Group was the dealmaker between the two and even conceptualised and designed the park. DDB Mudra has designed the park’s logo. Expecting Surat to turn into a metro city by next year and considering its purchasing power as well as the diamond and marketing hub, Turner India managing director Siddharth Jain says they were bound to pick this location.

Characters such as Ben 10, The Powerpuff Girls and Adventure Time will be the attractions. “India is a priority market for Turner and our partnership with Rajgreen Group will enable millions of Cartoon Network fans to interact and have fun with their favorite characters like never before,” Jain said.

The family entertainment destination will host 33 theme-based attractions as well as 20 unique water-slides, using state-of-the-art technology. Designed to be an immersive entertainment destination, the park will be spread across an expansive 61,000 square metre area.

The Rs 450 crore park, entirely funded by the Rajgreen Company is tied to Turner for 10 years. Amaazia aims to attract approximately a million visitors in its first year of operation. It is also expecting to grab the attention of visitors from Mumbai, Ahmadabad and Udaipur.

Commenting on the announcement, Rajgreen Group chairman Sanjay Movaliya said, “We are excited to collaborate with Turner India in our development of Amaazia. Our audience today is well-travelled and exposed to global entertainment venues. Our aim is to create a similar experience closer home via our association with a hugely popular global brand like Cartoon Network.”

November 10, 2017
Kids’ channels to see laid-back Children’s Day celebration

MUMBAI: With Children’s Day coming up next week, kids’ channels have lined up special programmes to entertain the little ones on 14 November.

The latest kid on the block, Sony Yay, is all set to woo kids for the entire month. A new logo will be placed on the channel depicting the month-long celebration. There are also activities such as submitting your imitation of Guru aur Bhole and winners are awarded prizes. Fans can also see new episodes of Paap-o-Meter.

Even though the day may call for more eyeballs, channels aren’t hiking their ad rates. Sony Pictures Network kids’ genre business head Leena Lele Dutta says, “Diwali was actually the week where we went out with differential prices. We are not planning for any differential prices on this occasion; it will be standard prices and standard rates.”

When asked if ad rates were hiked on Children’s Day, Brand-Building.com brand strategist and founder Ambi M G Parameswaran said that the ad rates do not get hiked for just a particular day. “At best, discounts are reduced but you may call it a rate increase and this happens at all peak seasons, Diwali and Dussera, among others,” he adds.

Stratagem Media founder director Sundeep Nagpal affirms Parameswaran’s statement. “Certain kids’ brands may have to pay more for that day (up to about 20 per cent more) only because of the demand-supply equation for such brands otherwise there is no significant difference.”

Delving into other channel’s pockets, there’s another channel- Discovery Kids-that will telecast specials of Sheikh Chilli – Ek Se Bhale Do and Sheikh Chilli and Gama – Khub Hoga Hungama. There will be cross-channel promotion for the occasion. Discovery Kids head Uttam Pal Singh says, “We are more network focused. We do not intend anything special because the occasion happens to be on the weekday. So we will completely focus on our channel.”

Turner India will be celebrating Kris’s birthday on Cartoon Network. This includes a party with Kris (from Roll No. 21) from 5-15 November, when kids can participate in a contest and win a chance to party with him at their homes. The channel also has a brand new movie, Roll No. 21 – Kris Aur Ande Ka Funda lined up on his birthday, 14 November, at 11 am. Market leader Nickelodeon is organising a contest to win iPhoneX handsets.

Not attaching a lot of importance to the day, young adult’s all-time favourite–Disney channel that believes everyday is Children’s day. The channel hence will not have any special program or campaign around 14 November.

Whether or not brands pay heed to Chacha Nehru’s birthday, children do love the day they are pampered at home and by their favourite cartoon characters.

November 9, 2017
Sony Yay builds local characters to monetise

MUMBAI: The Indian arm of the Sony Network had it all – GEC, music, film, sports, you name it. What lacked was a brand for the children of the country. That gap was filled when it launched Sony Yay in April this year.

It’s not as if Sony was devoid of kids content. It launched Animax in 2004, a pure anime destination, but branded it as ‘animation for everyone – not just for kids’. In two years time, it dropped kids and plugged into the youth audience of 15-24 year olds and in 2006, it introduced live action.

Over time, the channel lost its lustre and the channel decided to convert it to Yay in 2017 and grab a share of the 2-14 age group. “Technically we didn’t replace Animax but it sort of gave way to our intention of launching into the kids space, which was the only missing genre for the network. Animax is still available for interested audiences online on SonyLiv,” says Sony Pictures Network India kids genre business head Leena Lele Dutta.

It was early 2016 when the network started researching on what Indian kids love to watch on TV and data pointed to three areas. “Firstly, they like to see funny, happy and laugh-out-loud animation; second they don’t want both animation and live action on the same channel and last was that local characters, local names, ‘takiya qalam’ words strike and instil a chord with children,” she shares. This led to picking 100 per cent animation over live action for Sony Yay.

Sticking to its principle, the channel tied up with local creators for four original animation series – Guru aur Bhole, Sab Jholmaal Hai, Paap-O-Meter and Prince Jai aur Dumdaar Viru, 52 episodes per show. A fifth show, The Fab 5 – Initial Tango, will release during Christmas and the sixth original will be launched next year. “Slowly we will build new stories and characters to resonate with kids of today,” says an excited Lele. Soon it will build a movie bank for the Sab Jholmaal Hai franchise, similar to what Nick does with Motu Patlu and Pogo with Chhota Bheem.

Kids tuning into the channel have become addicted to Sab Jholmaal Hai and Guru aur Bhole. Wasting no time, the channel has started displaying back-to-back episodes now so they can binge watch and connect with the characters. “Once kids start watching these existing shows, you will yourself see the movement of the channel,” she adds. Paap-o-Meter is a novel concept and the channel doesn’t expect it to shoot up instantly. Indeed, data from Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) indicates that for week 39-42 the two shows did top the channel with average Impressions (000s) of 115 and 110 respectively.

Sony owns the intellectual property (IP) rights for all the shows to squeeze out all the benefits, which cannot be done in acquisitions. Though Sony was ready to shed some bucks for dubbed or acquired content, they could not find one with a large repertoire of episodes (more than 100) and neither did any content fit the channel’s bill.

BARC data also shows that in its first four weeks of launch (week 20-23), the channel had 25,011 average Impressions (000s) sum while the number changed to 22,100 Impressions (000s) sum in week 39-42 for all India age 2-14. Despite the decline, it shows that the initial impression hasn’t faded away.

Keeping in mind the demographics, the channel abstained from keeping it English-centric. “We wanted to remain indigenous, home-grown and local,” she adds. Thus, the main Hindi channel is dubbed into languages of Tamil and Telugu too.

Speaking of advertisers, Dabur Red Paste, Hershey’s, Domino’s Pizza and Lifebuoy are some of the brands associated with the channel. Datta mentions they had 7-8 brands coming on board every week, from FMCG and even those targeting kids.

It will soon look at minting money through other areas and not depend solely on on-air advertising. “Once we make our characters popular, it opens up all avenues for us such as product licencing and digital distribution because we own the IPs,” she says.

Very soon there will be canter activations for kids in 50 cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.

With big ambitions, it remains to be seen if the channel can fight the crowded kids market and see a significant jump in its claim.

November 6, 2017
Angry Birds sing the Blues on Discovery Kids

MUMBAI: Discovery Kids is all set to roll out its new series featuring kids’ beloved birds in the Indian television premiere of Angry Birds Blues. The series will air from Monday to Friday at 6 pm with a repeat at 12 noon as part of continued festivities for kids.

Discovery Kids head Uttam Pal Singh said, “This festive season, we bring kids favourite series to Discovery Kids – Angry Birds Blues. It is our endeavour to bring to our young audience best-in-class entertainment and engagement with their favourite characters.”

The series features new birds and their hilarious escapades. Meet the Blues Jake, Jay and Jim – rambunctious bluebird triplets with big ideas that wildly succeed or hilariously fail. But no matter what happens, this fun feathered trio always bounces back except when the Hatchlings show up. Unfazed, the brothers simply shake their smouldering tail feathers and try again. Whether it’s building a clubhouse ordered from the Mighty Eagle Express, or getting a kite to fly, the Blues’ crazy antics become unbelievable comic disasters you can’t resist.

October 31, 2017