Category: Kids

MUMBAI: Nick‘s show ‘Keymon Ache‘ is back in the new year with new episodes, which will be aired everyday at 6.30 pm.

Nick and Sonic India EVP and GM Nina Elavia Jaipuria said, “With his witty and cool style, Keymon Ache has forged a strong bond with kids. Nickelodeon is going to start the New Year by giving kids a chance to interact with their favourite toon in person. Taking engagement to a new level, Keymon Ache will go to the kids‘ houses and help them stick to their resolutions!”

Nick will also run a content that allows the winners to Keymon Ache in person. The viewers are to spot the character making his New Year resolution on TV between 6 pm and 9 pm and send in their answers.

To engage its viewers, Nick India will also carry the contest on its official Facebook page (facebook.com/nickindia). The winner‘s photo and resolution will be posted on Nick India‘s website as well as Facebook page!

Keymon Ache is based on the extraordinary life of an ordinary nine-year-old boy Rohan Tendulkar, accompanied by his set of magical toy friends. Based in a contemporary setting the show has strong messages of friendship, family values, honesty and morality, yet holding on to the flavor of young humor at its best.

MUMBAI: Cartoon Network is bringing back the rabbit-duck pair to television with the revamped ‘The Looney Tunes Show‘ starting 16 January on weekdays at 3 pm.
 
In the new avatar, the characters are the same, but the situation has been given a twist. While Bugs is as brazen, sarcastic and ahead-of-the-game as ever, and Daffy, is narcissistic, sociopathic with paranoid tendencies, the latter is Bugs‘ best friend and seemingly permanent houseguest.

Also joining the cast are the other regulars from Warner Bros like Porky Pig, Speedy Gonzales, Lola, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian, Tweety, Sylvester, Granny, Gossamer along with new entrant Daffy‘s no-nonsense girlfriend, Tina.

MUMBAI: BBC has announced that CBeebies fans around the world will be treated to classic children’s stories in a series of
short films commissioned for the preschool network. BBC Worldwide has concluded deals with children’s publishers Barefoot Books and Ladybird Books which will see eight tales read by the CBeebies presenters in Africa, Asia, Australia, Latin America and Poland.

The films were commissioned as an addition to the ‘Story Time’ sections of the international CBeebies websites. In their readings of the tales, the CBeebies presenters give each story a distinctly local flavour to create a range of bespoke story time pieces for children around the world.

A total of 40 short illustrated films will be created from the eight fables. From Ladybird Books come Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Magic Porridge Pot, Cinderella, The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Elves and the Shoemaker, while Barefoot Books has provided Shopping With Dad, The Gigantic Turnip and Emily’s Tiger. So far readings have been completed for Africa, Asia and Poland featuring Sid Sloane, Nisha Anil and Aneta Piotrowska respectively.

Similar recordings are planned for Australia (fronted by Robbie Harding and Duncan Fellows) and Latin America (with Roser Caba?as). Sid, Nisha, Robbie and Duncan will read in English, while Aneta reads in Polish for local children, and Roser in Spanish.

As well as CBeebies’ international websites, the films will also appear on BBC Worldwide’s pay TV channels and associated on-demand services, and on the CBeebies channel on British Airways’ in-flight entertainment system.

Additionally, the films will feature on the official CBeebies Facebook fan pages, and on ‘CBeebies On The Go’, the free app for iPhone®, iPod Touch and iPad available across the Asia
Pacific market.

The deals with Barefoot Books and Ladybird Books were brokered by Simon Clarke, digital content and marketing manager at BBC Worldwide Channels.

CBeebies Investment director at BBC Worldwide Henrietta Hurford-Jones said of the development, “These stories are a lovely addition to the CBeebies’ international portfolio. It’s very important that children in all our markets can relate on a very personal level to what they see on screen and these stories bring them universally loved tales with the added familiarity of their local presenters. The films originally started life as a part of the CBeebies site and have developed into a rich, multimedia experience for preschoolers around the world.”

The stories will launch on the television network from February. Rollout has already begun on CBeebies’ digital platforms, with films currently available on the local websites in South Africa, Asia and Poland.

MUMBAI: Cartoon Network Enterprises has expanded its Asia Pacific licensing portfolio featuring the launch of comedy properties.

Cartoon Network Enterprises Asia Pacific vice president Dulce Lim-Chen said, “We‘re really excited by our fresh line-up of comedy properties and content portfolio, and strong range of business lines. These quirky, dynamic and compelling characters are going beyond the screen and truly engaging with the daily lives of consumers.”

The line-up includes the series ‘The Amazing World of Gumball‘, ‘Adventure Time with Finn and Jake‘ ‘Regular Show‘ to complement its existing action/adventure franchises ‘Ben 10‘ and ‘The Powerpuff Girls‘.

The company said that it has sold over 350 million products in 2011 and Cartoon Network Enterprise‘s latest comedy property additions enhance licensing and merchandising opportunities for its partners in Asia.

These span across consumer products, home entertainment, publishing, promotional
licensing and themed entertainment.

In addition to expanding its property portfolio, Cartoon Network Enterprises will also be opening more branded environments across Asia Pacific including family entertainment centres, themed zones and learning spaces.

MUMBAI: Atria mall in south Mumbai was the hub of activity as child development institute Kwakids Learning launched Kidville in India.

A popular concept in the USA, Kidville is a child enrichment and entertainment facility. It offers fun filled and age appropriate classes to children for their timely growth and development. The facility covers 8000 square feet in the mall.

The Kidville programs aim at increasing the confidence and helping the children grow physically, socially and cognitively in a safe, stimulating environment. Kidville offers a range of classes, in areas like music, gym, art, dance, enrichment and preschool.
 
It also provides quality services and products such as a Kidville Boutique, a hair salon, especially for kids, a large indoor play space as well as celebration of birthdays, special seminars and workshops for parents.

Kwakids Learning MD and CEO Rosenyn Kapur said at the launch, “Our research has shown that parents are not just concerned about their child‘s education but also about their overall development. At Kidville, our aim is to make learning, a fun-filled process while providing exposure and education through practical experiences.”

Kidville Inc founder and president Rammy Harwood said, “Research shows that the Indian audiences are keen to know about newer and better means of giving their children a better life. We are excited to help change and bring in new concepts of learning with fun, education and skills to each child and develop them to a different level.”

MUMBAI: The learning focused block on Disney Channel, Disney Junior, will have two new shows from 19 December. The shows ‘A Poem is…‘ and ‘Tasty Time with Chef ZeFronk‘ will be played out multiple times daily on the channel.

The show A Poem is… is a short-form animated series which has poems for children set to scenes and imagery from Disney classics like Bambi, The Lady and the Trtamp and Dumbo. The poems will be narrated by veteran Bollywood actor Shabana Azmi in hindi and by actor director Suhasini Ratnam in Tamil and Telegu. The show will feature poems from Robert Louis Stevenson, John Howard Payne, AA Milne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Tasty Times with Chef ZeFronk will be a five minute short-run programme which will encourage the children to cook and have fun with their families. Actor Omi Vaidya will be lending his voice to the character of Chef ZeFronk.
 
Walt Disney Television International India executive director content and creative Arnab Chaudhuri said, “The launch of these new series further demonstrates Disney Junior‘s dedication to programming that highlights the importance of great, heartfelt storytelling with learning components, including poetry and life skills.”

Apart from the two new shows, Disney Junior will also release a magazine and DVDs of its content and activities in the future.

MUMBAI: Viacom18 is gearing up to launch a new channel, Sonic, by mid-December.

Sonic, the fifth channel from the joint venture company between US media conglomerate Viacom Inc and Network18 Group, will target the 10-17 year old.

Viacom18 believes that this TG is largely underserved and untapped and Sonic will bridge the gap between the kids and the youth channels. Incidentally, the JV also runs kids channel Nick and youth channel MTV, apart from Hindi general entertainment channel Colors and English entertainment channel Vh1.
 
“Sonic will cater to the audience aged between 10-17 years of age. They are extremely influential and are drawn towards thrills, action and edge of the seat excitement. At the same time, the category is underserved,” said Sonic and Nick EVP and GM Nina Elavia Jaipuria.

The channel will predominantly be an animation channel with 80-85 per cent animated content, said Jaipuria.

However, Sonic will have to tap into a category which has about Rs 2 – 2.5 billion revenue potential, while the cost of original animated content and distribution (carriage) are very high.

“Yes, the cost of original content is very high and distribution also needs huge investment, but we as a group (Viacom18) have been a challenger in the industry. We aim to reach 40 million households in first phase of launch,” Jaipuria said.

The channel will be paid from the day of launch and will be distributed through Sun18 Media Services.

The channel will soon roll out a 360 degree marketing campaign spanning TV, radio, print and outdoor. It has Vizeum India as the media agency while Scarecrow Communications is the creative agency of the new channel.

UK-based Red Bee has created the logo and the on-air packaging of the channel.

The channel will be launched with four feeds – English, Hindi, Marathi and one more HSM regional language, which Jaipuria said will be disclosed later.

Sonic will have six hours of original programming daily. It will air shows including Shaktimaan (animated version of India‘s first superhero). Big Animation is producing the 26-episodic series for the channel. Other animated shows include – Kung Fu Panda – The Legend of Awesomeness, Jackie Chan Fantasia, King Kong, Power Rangers and Superstrikas.

On weekend, the channel will air action movies.

MUMBAI: US kids broadcaster Nickelodeon will for the first time create a new, multi-platform destination for today‘s moms: Nickmom.
This will be a prime-time, advertiser-supported nightly programming block on Nick Jr. and a convergent web site.

Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. are already the top viewing destinations for moms, according to Nielsen Media Research, and one out of every four moms today grew up watching Nickelodeon themselves.

Nickelodeon is creating Nickmom in response to original research with today‘s moms who are younger, more diverse and more tech savvy than prior generations, and who are looking for entertainment outlets that speak directly to the experience of their lives. These moms say they want entertainment content that is focussed on comedy, helps them relax at the end of the
day and ultimately celebrates being a parent.

The Nickmom block on Nick Jr. will feature a mix of original long- and short-form humour-based programming, including talk shows, stand-up and sketch comedy, hidden camera and more.

The TV block will air nightly with two-hours of original content and a replay immediately following.
 
The Nickmom TV block will launch next year. The Nickmom web
made its debut on 14 November 2011 as a blog on Nickelodeon‘s
ParentsConnect.com–Nickelodeon‘s web resource for parenting advice and community–and will feature editorial franchises and video. The Nickmom site will then evolve into a mom-focussed humour site complete with editorial, photos, videos, gaming and community next year.

Nickelodeon Networks president Cyma Zarghami said, “Today‘s moms who grew up with Nickelodeon have a renewed relationship with us through their kids, and now we have something for them as adults in NickMom.

This generation of moms is very different than any one before it and we are very excited to offer a destination that is unique in today‘s entertainment landscape with content that taps into the Nickelodeon‘s comedic DNA.”

With more than 30 projects currently in development, the Nickmom block will feature talk shows, docu-series, stand-up and sketch comedy, hidden camera and game shows and more, emphasizing the kind of comedy moms say they enjoy most – relatable, ridiculous and irreverent. Development deals are in place with Eyeworks USA ‘The Biggest Loser’; Mad Cow (Madeleine Smithberg, co-creator, former executive producer of
The Daily Show); actress and author Annabelle Gurwitch (You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up; Fired!; Dinner & a Movie); and winning Hugh Fink (head writer, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson; and writer, SNL); among others.

Well in advance of its TV launch, Nickmom already has acquired two charter sponsors: General Mills; and Reckitt Benckiser.

Outside of the block‘s mom-focussed content in prime time, Nick Jr. will remain the commercial-free network and online site where preschoolers can gain key curricular knowledge in a curated and organised environment. Through interactivity and narrative, Nick Jr. and nickjr.com help kids learn early literacy, social studies, basic math, science, movement and art skills, through preschool shows like ‘Dora the Explorer’, ‘Bubble Guppies’, ‘Go, Diego, Go!’, ‘Yo, Gabba, Gabba’, ‘Max and Ruby’ and ‘Team Umi Zoomi’.

MUMBAI: Doraemon (Hungama TV) and Chhota Bheem (Pogo) are the kids‘ most favourite characters, says the fifth edition of Ormax Media‘s kids‘ favourite character ranking study Small Wonders.

While Doraemon is leading the October 2001 track, Chhota Bheem is on second position.
 
Besides reporting favourite characters, Small Wonders also reports favourite Hindi GEC characters among kids. From this edition onwards, the report also covers kids‘ favourite male and female film stars.

The study was conducted among 6-14-year-old kids, SEC ABC, in eight cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jalandhar and Chennai. 1920 respondents were covered in this track, Ormax said.

MUMBAI: Kids‘ channel Pogo is set to premiere Mayanagri, one of the original productions from the channel starring Chhota Bheem and Krishna.

Mayanagri will be aired on Diwali day (26 October) at 2 pm.

Turner International India GM Entertainment Networks, South Asia Monica Tata said, “The premiere of Mayanagri is the perfect gift for kids this Diwali where they are getting to spend Diwali afternoon with their favorite superhero Chhota Bheem. The movie is not only entertaining and thrilling but also teaches kids about bravery and truth.”
 
Mayanagri is the story of a demoness who visits the very spot where Kirmada‘s body had burst into ashes. Using powerful magic, she recaptures Kirmada‘s essence from the dust and recalls his soul from the spiritual plane. But Kirmada is unable to regain his form as Krishna‘s power prevents his complete resurrection.

The angered demoness, Kirmada‘s sister, vows to resurrect her brother even if it means capturing Krishna himself and forcing him to perform the act. So she sets about crafting an elaborate and faultless plot to capture him. Maayandri sends her pet, a magpie to spy on Krishna.

Meanwhile Bheem and his friends are visiting Krishna in Dwarka. After some memorable days, they prepare to take their leave. At the time of parting, Krishna gives each of the kids something as a memoir of their time in Dwarka. Of these, the most unique are the gifts for Bheem and Chutki‘. Chutki receives a jeweled ring that will change colour whenever she is in need of help. To Bheem, Krishna gifts a pendant with their portraits etched on it. Through the spying magpie, Maayandri finds out about the gifts and manages to steal Chutki‘s ring.