ITV

Category: Kids

  • ‘We have been growing at 9-10 per cent every year’ : Viacom18 EVP and GM Sonic and Nickelodeon India Nina Elavia Jaipuria

    ‘We have been growing at 9-10 per cent every year’ : Viacom18 EVP and GM Sonic and Nickelodeon India Nina Elavia Jaipuria

    Nina Jaipuria, the EVP and GM for Sonic and Nickelodeon India, is bullish about the kids genre despite the challenges that exist. Jaipuria, who has been at the helm of Nick for more than five years, is hopeful that the channel will bounce back to its 2009 position when it topped the genre.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Javed Farooqui, Jaipuria says that Sonic, the action and adventure channel that launched in December last year, will also witness growth. She sees the viewership of kids channels going up in the Southern market, where the local GECs still hold a stranglehold on family viewing.

     

    Excerpts:

    You have been at a GEC (Sony) and since last six years, you are handling kids channel. Which genre do you find more challenging?
    Both the genres are equally challenging. But to my mind, capturing the kids is more challenging as they get bored faster. Kids have shorter attention span. Saas-bahu serials can run for 10 years and you don’t get bored but try doing that with children. It’s impossible… which really means that you have to innovate that much more quickly and stay ahead of the curve.

     

    Unlike GEC where you need non-fiction to get the eyeballs and then the fiction takes care of your bread and butter, I think there is no such concept in kids genre. I think it’s a tougher category also because we have huge pipeline issues and the timelines. A GEC channel can produce a show in two months but for us it will take two years because it is animation. So the pipeline is so much tougher and therefore we have to plan that much in advance. Having said that, the GEC category is also difficult because we are talking about a scale that is very large and thanks to competition, the risk there only gets higher.

     

    However, if you build kids loyalty, then it is about how you keep them going. Your challenge is how you can bring them to the channel day after day.

    Despite being third in the pecking order, why does the kids genre not command the kind of ad revenues it should?
    It is hugely under-indexed and that has been going on for a long time. We were given for free and there is a CPRP benchmark that no advertiser is willing to pay that much.

     

    However, advertisers have started believing that kids have a lot of peer pressure, purchasing power and influence on family purchases. And, therefore, you see advertisers coming to the kids category. But it is growing slowly and steadily. Five years back, the market was Rs 1.4 billion and today it has grown to Rs 2.5 billion.

    Will slowdown have an impact on ad spends?
    In 2009, when there was a slowdown, we did not really witness it as much because a large portion of advertisers who advertise on kids channels are FMCGs, food & beverages and toys, which did not cut back that much compared to radio or print because they have more local advertisers and more of retail and finance.

    Coming to Nick, position wise the channel has slipped to No. 2 or 3. How do you plan to get back on top?
    We are the number two or number three player in the category. Summer has been good and thanks to all the new content that has gone on the channel, we will continue to retain our number there position.

     

    We retained the top position for two years and I think that is a long enough time. We hope to come back (to the top position). Everything that goes up has to come down, these are all cyclical vagaries of the business.
    ‘Sonic and Nick are two different brands. While Nick is humour and little of action, Sonic is a hardcore action and adventure brand‘

    Oggy and the Cockroaches was one of your tentpole properties. This has now shifted to Cartoon network. What do you think about your other properties?
    My tentpole property is Ninja Hattori and I would have also said Oggy and the Cockroaches but it has now moved to Turner (Cartoon Network). But Oggy gave us a good result for the three years that it was with us. So with all due respect, these are vagaries of the business and we are planning to build our own properties. We have Keymon Ache, of which we have already done 26 episodes and have greenlighted the second season of the show.

     

    We launched Power Rangers and now we have new Power Rangers coming back. Then after Samurai, we have Super Samurai. We have the third one as well in 2013. Thus, we will have a lot of Power Rangers as a property to build. Then there is Kung Fu Panda that we will build. So we will have a lot of solid shows post the Oggy also.

    What are the genres you are looking to build content for Nick?
    When we started, it was a mix of humour, comedy and various strands of it – slapstick comedy, silent comedy, family comedy shows and Keymon kind of shows.

     

    Kung Fu is a mix of comedy and action which according to me is the only show of its kind which had comedy and action put together. But slowly we realised that our kids are moving towards action even from a category point of view. Look at what’s happening with video games. So we believe that there is a little bit of action required on Nickelodeon. The only action show we are showing on Nick is Power Rangers Samurai so that those kids who want action don’t go anywhere.

    What about Sonic?
    Sonic and Nick are two different brands. While Nick is humour and little of action, Sonic is a hardcore action and adventure brand. So we have shows like Ultraman, Jackie Chan, Super Strikers, and Ghost at Schools.

     

    Sonic has done very well to get 8 per cent share in a difficult category as children are slow to changing habits. I think there was a gap in the market as no channel was offering 24X7 action and adventure as a proposition. So kids had to go to MTV Roadies, Fear Factor or once on a while they would go to play video games or watch movies like Dabangg. This gap we fixed with Sonic.

     

    When kids are growing up, they are shying away from watching kids’ channels. But they were not big enough to go to MTV or Vh1. So we found out a nice gap as well as target audience. In fact, Sonic is doing very well in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. We have got an eight per cent market share within six months and 22 per cent reach in 85 minutes of time spent, as of last week.

    What are your revenue expectations from the two channels?
    We have been growing at 9-10 per cent every year and I hope that we continue to grow at that range. From revenue perspective, ad sales is the big brother. Subscription is not significant at this stage but should grow post digitisation. After that comes licensing and merchandising, but they are taking only baby steps.

    How are you growing the L&M biz?
    We are increasing our character base and with that we are increasing our product range. We have 55 licensees on board this year across categories. We can grow this with depth and width. What I mean by width is that we increase characters. Every single character grows into every single product category. When I talk about depth, we look at every single category in the life of a kid.

     

    We have launched footwear with Metro shoes, we also have toys of popular characters like Dora, Ninja and Spongebob. TI Cycles is going to offer co-branded Dora The Explorer and Ninja bicycles. We also have DVDs and VCDs coming for Keymon and Dora.

    Talking about content, still most of the content on your channel remains animation. Why is it so?
    Except Power Rangers and Ultraman, almost all of our content is animation. The reason we do so much animation is because kids come to the category for two reasons: one is to get rid of boredom and second is get rid of all pressures. And animation is the only alternate universe, which allows them to enter the fictionary and imaginary world which allows them to get rid of boredom. Try to do that with live action and you can never achieve it as it is as real as it can be. Because we are a tailor-made category for children, animation will always be the fulcrum.

    But kids’ channels are experimenting with Hindi movies also.
    Even I don’t understand that. I put movies on Sonic because I think adventure as a genre is served with movies. But we put on kids’ movies like Jurassic Park that are catering to that genre.

    But is it to prevent them from shifting to other genres?
    I think they are passive viewers. They are captive audiences to what they watch and, therefore despite fragmentation, the category continues to grow. The fact is that kids continue to come back to the category because the content is tailor-made for them. The only reason why the viewership hasn’t grown to the extent it should have is because India is largely a single television household.

    To what extent did the IPL impact the genre?
    Fortunately for us, we don’t have a fixed prime time slot. And it never had much of an impact because for us we have viewership throughout the day and IPL matches were at 4 pm and 8 pm. It’s not like a GEC where 8 pm is prime time.

     

    We do have 12-3 pm and 6-8 pm as primetime slots. And the best thing about the country is that in some cities, kids go to school in the morning and in some cities in the afternoon. So somebody is watching us at all hours of the day.

    While the kids genre is seeing growth in the HSM, the same cannot be said about the South market. Why?
    That is because all of us are late entrants to the South market. We launched our Tamil and Telugu feed for Nick one year back. Also, kids in those markets have been watching the local content for very long in their own language. But it’s picking up.

    How much do you focus on digital medium for connecting with your target audience?
    To me, digital is important because our TG is more digital savvy than you and me put together. Interactivity has become a large part in the kids’ space today because they have access to mobile and internet. They communicate with us on nickindia.com or sonicgang.com. We also have Power Rangers games on both these websites, besides downloads and wallpapers. There is a lot of interactivity that is happening there. Then we have contests happening on Facebook. The Keymon game on Nokia has got two million downloads. We have over 200,000 fans for Nick on Facebook and over 100,000 fans for Sonic.

    What are your plans for the year?
    We have two big shows coming up on Nick – Cedric and Tony and Alberto. Cedric is about a boy who is mischievous and wants his grandfather to help but normally they are more in trouble than out of it. Tony and Alberto is about the story of a boy and a dog. Both are very mischievous and funny shows talking about the 9-10-year-old boys. The shows will be coming on air in July. We have two new shows coming on Sonic as well – Ghost at Schools and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

  • DQE’s ‘The Jungle Book’ to premiere on Disney XD in US

    MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based animation company DQ Entertainment has added another feather in its cap by selling the broadcast rights of its 3D HD animated series ‘The Jungle Book‘ to Disney XD in US.


    The property will premiere on 11 June on the cable and satellite channel which is available in over 78 million US households.


    The Jungle Book – 26 x 22‘ 3D HD has generated tremendous interest world-wide including Europe for broadcasting and home entertainment.


    As per information available on its website, The Jungle Book ZDF Group Germany, TF1 Group France, NBC Universal London, ABC Television Australia have taken wide ranging rights including some co-production rights for 52×11‘ TV series and 1×60‘ special Feature (StereoScopic).


    SMC Entertainment, a division of Sun-Mate, has the television, home video, licensing and merchandising rights in North America for ‘The Jungle Book‘ based on an earlier agreement with DQE.


    Rudyard Kipling‘s most loved characters come to life in The Jungle Book 26 x 22‘ TV series for ages 6 to 9. It narrates stories of the man cub Mowgli who was raised in the Indian jungles by a pack of wolves since he was born.


    DQE Group chairman & CEO Tapaas Chakravarti commented, “We are honoured that ‘The Jungle Book‘ will soon be on Disney channels in USA. Mowgli and his friends have found their rightful home and we are confident that they will continue to enthrall audiences in their new CGI avatars.”

  • Disney to premiere season 2 of Best of Luck Nikki on 3 June

    MUMBAI: Disney Channel will premiere the second season of its hit family comedy Best of Luck Nikki on Sunday, 3 June at 11 am.


    The show is directed by David Polycarp and produced by production house ‘The Troublemakers‘.


    The family comedy, which centres around the everyday trials, tribulations and triumphs of a busy family of six, will this season witness what happens in the Singh household when Nikki turns two, begins potty training, goes to school and inadvertently causes hiccups and hurdles in the lives of her siblings, Dolly, Rohan and Sunny and her parents Himani and Avatar Singh.


    “Season two of Best of Luck Nikki will take the fun, comedy and mischief to the next level as our young diva turns two. The record breaking first season witnessed an overwhelming response from viewers and we look forward to giving our viewers many more comic yet touching moments with Nikki, as she experiences her many ‘firsts‘”, says Walt Disney Television International India director programming Devika Prabhu.


    Reprising their roles are Gurdip Kohli as Himani, Girish Sahedev as Avatar Singh, Sheena Bajaj as Dolly, Akash Nair as Sunny, Murtuza Kutianawala as Rohan and Ananya Kolvankar as baby Nikki.

  • NBCU acquires majority stake in KidsCo

    MUMBAI: NBCUniversal International has acquired a controlling 51 per cent stake in international children‘s channel, KidsCo.


    The purchase is in partnership with existing shareholder and content supplier Corus Entertainment, who also increased its equity in the channel to 43.8 per cent.


    Cookie Jar will exit the joint venture after five years in order to expand and develop their business outside the KidsCo partnership, prompting NBCUniversal and Corus Entertainment to acquire Cookie Jar Entertainment‘s minority stake.


    Cookie Jar has entered into a new multi-year content licensing agreement to provide high-quality children‘s programming for KidsCo‘s channels worldwide, thereby assuring KidsCo‘s existing programming
    schedules.


    The newly configured KidsCo will be led by Hendrik McDermott as managing director, having held that position as an interim arrangement since November 2011.


    Said NBCUniversal president, International Television Kevin MacLellan, “We see a very bright future for children‘s television internationally and believe our highly valued partnership with Corus well positions KidsCo to compete strongly in this market. Hendrik will provide clear operational leadership and will be focused on implementing innovative strategic and technical opportunities to grow the content and distribution base of the company.”


    KidsCo is committed to expanding and enhancing its content offering to increase its global subscriber base. It is identified with showing safe, non-violent and light-hearted content.


    Said Corus Television president Doug Murphy, “KidsCo has become synonymous with quality, family-friendly entertainment, and Corus is excited to deepen our partnership with NBCUniversal to help grow the KidsCo business and build on its already strong international reputation as a diverse and dependable entertainment destination.”

  • Nick to air new espisodes of Ninja Hattori

    MUMBAI: Nick will air new episodes of Ninja Hattori, starting 14 May.


    The second most-rated show on Nick, the fresh episodes have been produced in collaboration with Reliance MediaWorks Animation, TV Asahi and Shin-ei Animation.


    Ninja Hattori will be aired from Monday to Friday at 7 pm and 2 pm on the channel.


    The launch of these new episodes will also see month long promotional activities on Nick. The show will be promoted and additional buzz will be created on-air as well as on the digital platform. Regular updates on Nickelodeon’s official Facebook page will connect with all the young fans of the show.


    The popular series follows the adventures of a little boy, Ken, who befriends an equally little Ninja called Ninja Hattori. He moves at high speed, sleeps suspended on the ceiling and knows martial arts like the back of his hand. Together, Ninja and Ken land in some tight spots and find ways to come out of it.

  • Disney Channel to air Beauty and the Beast on 12 May

    MUMBAI: Disney Channel will air the first animated feature film in the history of the Oscars, Beauty and the Beast, on 12 May at 11 am.


    Beauty and the Beast, which was nominated for Best Picture (1991), is a heartwarming story of a young and beautiful girl, Belle, whose life revolves around reading books and taking care of her kind father, Maurice.


    Maurice gets lost in the woods and stumbles upon an enchanted castle. The owner of the castle turns out to be a prince cursed to living the life of a Beast. Angry at his trespassing, the Beast throws Maurice into a dungeon and Belle strikes a bargain with the Beast – to become his prisoner in exchange for her elderly father‘s freedom.


    Despite her precarious situation, Belle befriends the castle‘s enchanted staff – a teapot, a candelabra and a mantel clock, among others – and ultimately learns to see beneath the Beast‘s exterior to discover the heart and soul of a prince.

  • Kids channels present aggressive summer slate

    MUMBAI: Kids channels have lined up an aggressive programming slate to cash in on the summer vacations, a season of the year when their core TG (4-14 years) gets unhindered access to television leading to a spike in the overall genre share.


    As part of its summer lineup, Disney Network will be rolling out500 hours of programming across Disney Channel, Disney XD and

    Hungama.


    “We are rolling out 500 hours of programming with a pretty robust lineup on Disney Channel, Disney XD and Hungama TV. Since kids don‘t have any restrictions during summer, we plan to engage them with interesting content,” says Walt Disney Television International India Director Programming Devika Prabhu.


    Disney Channel will see the launch of the second season of Best of Nikki along with new episodes of Art Attack and Phineas and Ferbs, it has already introduced The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir that was launched in early April.


    To supplement these, the channel also plans to air Disney classic movies from its vast international library every weekend which includes Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland and Doraemon.


    “We also have acquired a slew of local animation production which includes Feluda on Disney XD. Along with new shows Heroman, VR Troopers, Luv Kushh, we also have new episodes of Kick Buttowski on Disney XD,” Prabhu avers.


    Nickelodeon will air new seasons of Ninja Hattori and Keymon Ache. The channel is also contemplating to launch popular show, Dennis the menace, this year, though the specific period of its launch has not been finalised.


    Viacom18‘s new channel Sonic will see the launch of new episodes of Kung Fu Panda, Shaktiman and
     Are You Afraid of the Dark, a joint Canadian-American horror/fantasy-themed anthology series.


    “As far as we are concerned, summer vacations will see a lot of action. For Sonic we will launch new episodes of Kung Fu Panda. We will also see new episodes of Shaktiman, the local super hero,” Sonic and Nick India EVP and GM Nina Elavia Jaipuria says.


    Also on the anvil is Ultraman, a Japanese Tokusatsu Television series, besides a local production regarding which Jaipuria choose not to reveal anything. The channel launched new episodes of the ghost show ‘Are you afraid of the Dark‘ which is currently on air.


    “Sometime in the year we will also launch Dennis the Menace and we looking at the idea of creating one more local production for Nickelodeon as well. We have seen increase in time spent during summer. It’s almost a 19 per cent increase in the overall time spent in the category, while the overall viewership share increases from 19 per cent to 22 per cent on an All India basis and 24 per cent on HSM basis,” she says.


    Turner International India, the owner and operator of Cartoon Network and Pogo, has also firmed up its summer lineup to reinforce its strong position.


    Cartoon Network has strengthened its afternoon slot with the launch of new episodes of Horrid Henry and Roll No. 21. It will also air ‘Ben 10: Ultimate Alien’, starting 7 May every Monday to Friday at 5 pm besides premiering ‘Omkar 2’ on 27 May at 12 pm.


    Pogo will showcase brand new show ‘Mojacko’ every Monday to Friday at 4 pm besides new seasons of
     The Smurfs and Chotta Bheem. It is also betting big on popular series like Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens, Mighty Raju 2, Chhota Bheem movies and Bollywood movies.


    Kids can have their fill this summer as channels eye double-digit ad revenue growth from a genre that ended last year at Rs 2.4 billion.

  • World Children Expo to showcase latest movies, games

    NEW DELHI: With the holiday season beginning, children in the National Capital Region can look forward to watch latest movies and video games when the World Children Expo 2012 kicks off in Gurgaon next month.


    To be held from 25-27 May, the event has been conceptualised by Creative Children Media as a platform for showcasing children centric consumer brands from across seven sectors – media & entertainment, education, technology, clothing & apparel, food & beverages, healthcare, toys & FMCGs.


    The forum will also provide kids an opportunity to award their favourite brands.


    “World Children Expo 2012 aims to bring forth the Brands who are constantly and devotedly involved in producing and promoting kids’ essentials. It offers a grand stage for latest entrants in the kids market too. We are hoping that the expo will become a one stop destination for Parents who are looking at finding the latest for their kids,” said Creative Children Media Director and CEO Rahul Gupta.


    WCE 2012 has been divided into two parts: WCE – The Business Conclave, Kids‘ Favorites Awards which will take place on 25 May at The Crowne Plaza, Gurgaon; and World Children Expo (WCE), which will take place on 26 and 27 May at The Island, Ambience Mall, Gurgaon.


    Kids‘ Favourites Awards will see an impressive line of brands competing for India’s first and only children’s brand awards. Here kids honour their favourites in 20 different categories from the world of films, music, entertainment, sports, F&B, innovations, role-models, apparel & retail, etc. via voting.


    This is followed by the two-day Expo from 26-27 May, a carnival like environment, wherein kids & their families will get to witness launch of new movies & games, can win free collectables and merchandise. They will get to meet and greet their favourite cartoon characters and also get the opportunity to win free holidays. From school bags to stationery, eatables to gift items, shoes to apparel and many more; it will have a myriad of sub-categories.


    “It will not just be entertainment, but also a platform where parents and children can learn more about careers, higher-education and a healthy lifestyle. Also, parents who concentrate on well-rounded development of their wards, WCE envisions to interact with children on issues like sports, our planet, nature, peace, health and contributing to a better future,” Gupta said.

  • Nick greenlights 3 comedies for Nickmom comedy block

    MUMBAI: US kids broadcaster Nickelodeon has announced three new series pick-ups for Nickmom the prime-time, ad-supported TV comedy block and convergent web site designed specifically for moms. The three new series for television, The Judi and Kate Show (working title), Parental Discretion with Stefanie Wilder Taylor (working title) and What Carol Brady Thinks (working title) will join the previously announced stand-up comedy series, NickMom Night Out (26 episodes). The Nickmom block will feature a mix of original long- and short-form programming, including talk shows, stand-up and sketch comedy, hidden camera and more.


    Nickmom senior VP Bronwen O‘Keefe said, “Nickelodeon has built a strong relationship with moms over the years, and we see a great opportunity to serve them with content just for them with NickMom. The pick-ups of ‘The Judi and Kate Show‘, ‘Parental Discretion with Stefanie Wilder Taylor‘ and ‘What Carol Brady Thinks‘ underscore our strategy to create original content on air, online and for mobile that will tap into the unique humor that mom‘s understand.”


    The Judi & Kate Show is about two mom video bloggers from St. Louis. It is neing positioned as a show within a show, which goes inside their world for their unique take on motherhood. ‘Parental Discretion with Stefanie Wilder Taylor‘ blends studio elements, interviews, video commentary, monologues and panel discussions with field pieces including hidden camera, mom on the street and sketch comedy. Each episode explores a different element of parenting, all through the eyes of author and comedienne Stefanie Wilder Taylor. ‘What Carol Brady Thinks‘ allows viewers go inside the mind of mom Carol Brady.


    Nickelodeon had previously announced ‘NickMom Night Out‘ a stand-up comedy series that takes mom out for a night at the comedy club from the comfort of her own couch. Featured comedians include Judy Gold, Corey Kahaney, B Phlat and Dena Blizzard, all offering their humorous takes on the joy and pain of parenting.


    The NickMom nightly TV block, launching this year on Nick Jr, will feature a mix of original long- and short-form programming, including talk shows, stand-up and sketch comedy, hidden camera and more. Nickmom.com blog debuted last November and currently features editorial franchises, photos and video.


    Throughout this year, the site will evolve into a mom-focussed humour site complete with more editorial, photos, videos, gaming and community, becoming a fully integrated site timed to the TV launch.

  • Chinpui series on Hungama TV from 23 April

    MUMBAI: Kids channel Hungama TV has launched the magical new series titled Chinpui.


    The new series will be aired from Monday to Friday at 6 pm, starting 23 April.


    Chinpui is about a regular earthling girl called Eri who is visited by aliens from the planet ‘Mal‘, telling her that she has been selected as the best marriage candidate for their prince. When she refuses, one of them stays to ‘prepare‘ her for and, perhaps, persuade her into marrying their beloved prince.