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Tag: Leena Lele Dutta

  • Sony YAY! brings new episodes and brand-new movies of ‘Paap-O-Meter’

    Sony YAY! brings new episodes and brand-new movies of ‘Paap-O-Meter’

    MUMBAI: Welcome to the unique rib-tickling comedy show called Paap-O-Meter on Sony YAY! In the past, the channel took the onus of making summer plan for kids with their campaign called #whatsyoursummerplan by hosting new episodes and movies of KickO & Super Speedo and Honey Bunny ka Jholmaal. Keeping the fun intact, the channel is back with exciting new episodes and brand-new movies of Paap-O-Meter allowing kids to catch their favourite YAY! toons in action from Monday to Friday at 3 PM.

    The series of new episodes will see the ghost trio Bhootboss and his two assistants Thakela and Pakela punish the wrongdoers, including people who contribute towards noise pollution with incessant honking, the serial litterers and many more. The gang is not far behind in reprimanding the kids who use the resources irresponsibly. All the right lessons served with unlimited fun makes the Paapometer as one of the most loved show. 

    In the past, The channel called out for entries where kids could choose their stories that they would want to see on Paap-O-Meter and the heartening responses led to creation  of  new episodes basis the entries received in  one-of-its-kind initiative. While kids are glued to new episodes, the Paap-O-Meter gang are all set to treat kids with their first ever tele-movies in the coming months.

    “It’s heartening to see the amount of love Paap-o-Meter has received from kids across the country. To reciprocate the love the channel will showcase new stories and the first ever movies with the Paap-O-Meter trio. We are sure that kids' favorite YAY! toons and their thrilling adventures will make their vacation full of excitement and fun," Sony Pictures Networks India kids genre business head Leena Lele Dutta said. 

  • Sony YAY! to host ‘The Giant Wheel Festival’ in Kolkata

    Sony YAY! to host ‘The Giant Wheel Festival’ in Kolkata

    MUMBAI: Sony Yay! – The kid’s entertainment channel is all set to host its first ever funday for the entire family called ‘The Giant Wheel Festival’ (TGWF), which will be held in Kolkata at Nicco Park, Plaza III from 04 January to 05 January 2020. The initiative has been proposed for people to spend some quality time with their families.

    Sony Yay! Has consistently been working to evolve their consumer outreach programs with an intent of being more inclusive with kids and the key stakeholders in their lives. With TGWF, the channel has innovated with a proposition for every member of the family. The first of its kind on-ground initiative – ‘The Giant Wheel Festival’ aims to be the ultimate destination of fun and frolic for the entire family. The festival promises to be a vibrant mix of wide-ranging activities that promise to engage, interact and entice every member of the family.

    The channel, known for its fun mix of characters on its channel, with TGWF promises to bring together all the kids favorites under one roof. The carnival aims to bring the best of experience through adventure, learning and fun zones for a day-cation. The highlight of the festival is specially curated art-workshops for kids which will be hosted by the much-revered Lalon- kid’s favorite art genius. An array of workshops like pottery, science crazy lab and cooking workshops will enable the kids to learn something new. The flea market zone is touted to be the hub for shopping lovers. All the fun planned for the family will be served with Kolkata’s favorite handpicked scrumptious cuisines in the nibble corner.

    The channel has roped in Book My Show as their ticketing partner and the bookings have already started in full swing.

    Sony Pictures Networks India, Kids’ Genre business head Leena Lele Dutta said “Consumers often look out for a perfect opportunity to spend quality time with their families and crave for a one stop family destination. The channel’s endeavour with TGWF is to curate a property to help families create fond memories together and look forward to it year on year. With TGWF, we are taking a huge leap from being the ultimate entertainers for kids to creating an experiential platform that engages the whole family.”

  • Sony YAY! unites kids across the country for a noiseless and pollution free Diwali

    Sony YAY! unites kids across the country for a noiseless and pollution free Diwali

    MUMBAI:  Diwali, is inarguably one of the most awaited occasion for kids across India. The entire country is in the festive mood, children on their holidays and all geared up to revel in the celebrations. In all these festivities, one usually tends to overlook how our celebrations affect the animals around us. Animals have an acute sense of hearing and smell, the features that are a part of their survival mechanism. But the same attributes cause them acute disturbance and discomfort with the loud noise of crackers and the left over gunpowder. With an aim to bring awareness about the same and initiate a new tradition of celebrating noiseless and clean Diwali, Sony YAY! announced the 3rd edition of their landmark campaign – Pawsome Diwali. And who better than kids’ favorite cats i.e. Honey and Bunny from Sony YAY!  to drive this message forward.

    As a part of the entire drive, Honey and Bunny with their young fans donated ear mufflers to animal shelters and NGOs working towards animal welfare, to shield animals against the noise of fire-crackers. They also got together with NGOs like Jeev Basera, Stray Relief and Animal Welfare, India and Almighty Animal Care Trust to organize workshops across various key cities like Lucknow, Delhi and Chennai respectively to educate young minds about the importance of a noise-free Diwali.

    Not only this, social media celebrities also joined hands with YAY! to address all age groups and amplified the message through engaging videos and explanatory posts. Through their  digital outreach platforms, Sony YAY! also shared informative posts, contests and messages featuring Honey & Bunny requesting their fans to be more considerate to their pets and animal friends.

    The overarching thought was to instil a sense of empathy amongst the young fans so that they can celebrate Diwali in a pawsome way for years to come and bring happiness not only to their friends and family but also to animals.  

    Sony Pictures Networks India, Kids’ Genre! Business Head Leena Lele Dutta said,"Diwali is a festival of lights and not noise. With the first two years, we encouraged and introduced kids to the message of celebrating noise and pollution free Diwali. With the third edition the call for action evolves to inspire kids to make ‘cracker-free Diwali’ a habit. We want our next generation to understand the repercussions of bursting crackers and its adverse effects on pets, animals and even the environment. With Honey and Bunny being kid’s two favourite toon characters, our hope is that their message will positively translate in to a concrete change on these young and bright minds.”

    Rakhi Kishore, President- Jeev Basera (SPCA Lucknow), “In my opinion it's a great initiative by Sony YAY! that they are recognizing animal distress as a real problem. People should not forget that animals are an important and integral part of the ecosystem and they need to be loved and nurtured and cared for. Honey Bunny in their adorable form and character are spreading the beautiful message of having a safe and cracker-free (noise free) Diwali & Jeev Basera loved to be a part of this initiative of Sony YAY!.”

    Sai Vignesh, founder and president of Almighty Animal Care Trust, Chennai, “I support the initiative of Sony YAY! to raise awareness among kids about celebrating Diwali by not bursting crackers. Crackers are harmful to our health, environment and animals around us.”

    Vasanthi Kumar; Co- Founder & Managing Trustee, STRAW (Stray Relief and Animal Welfare) Delhi, “My experience with Sony YAY! has been Fantastic. Sony YAY! is a wonderful fun channel for children to connect with the world of animals & environment. Inspired from the initiative of Pawsome Diwali kids along with our NGO volunteers took a pledge on not bursting crackers this Diwali.”

  • 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.”

  • Sony Yay focuses on building existing characters, brand integration

    Sony Yay focuses on building existing characters, brand integration

    MUMBAI: Sony Yay is focussing its energy in consolidating programming and content within four characters in its shows Honey Bunny ka Jholmaal, Guru Aur Bhole, Kicko & Super Speedo and Paap-O-Meter. The channel, which owns 100 per cent of IPs of the characters, revealed that it will not be launching any new shows or characters rather it would build on the existing shows and characters.

    In a fireside chat with Indiantelevision.com co-founder, CEO, editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, Sony Yay business head Leena Lele Dutta said that the channel came up with six shows along the way and two of them didn’t do well. So the channel is focusing on consolidating the programming and content within four characters. It will root for Honey Bunny ka Jholmaal to lead the pack.

    “From the programming standpoint, we were very clear from the beginning that we are not going to get into dubbing of international content. So we started working a year in advance on the creation of our characters. We were very clear that we will own 100 per cent of the IPs of the characters because of the monetisation value 10-15 years down the line. With those tent-poles in mind, we develop and drive our content strategy of being completely original, extremely indigenous in term of the languages that we would dub the channel and go into the masses,” said Dutta.

    In a conversation with Wanvari, Dutta also spoke on the challenges and advantages of being a late entrant in the segment.

    She said, “We may be the last entrant but we look at it as turning it around into an opportunity. There are channels that have been launched 12 years before or seven years before but we look at the gestation between the last-launched and us and we identified the need gaps which we thought could be the core of our channel. We use those gaps as the opportunity to stream the DNA of our brand. We have been fortunate that kids have accepted us in such a short time. The acceptance of our brand and characters is overwhelming.”

    She further said, “There have been many characters that have been entrenched in kids' minds and that was the biggest challenge – how do we displace those characters from their mind and make space for our own. Another challenge was – how do we do something really distractive to get ourselves noticed. We look at the challenges and turned that into an opportunity.”

    On challenges, she explained, “There was a point in time where the distribution landscape was completely different. Seeding the channel was extremely critical to gain the reach; acceptance and sampling were the challenges. Another challenge that we went through in a most structured manner was the rebranding of Animax from Sony’s table. So it was easier to rebrand a channel as against launching a brand new channel which did not have any distribution footprint available in the market.”

    Lele claims that advertising revenue in the past year has been healthy. “The growth for us has been healthy and always been in double digits quarter on quarter. Brands also come to our channel and that helps them to realise that within our secondary TG our channel performs better than the rest of the competitor channels. Even if they are targeting the mother it’s a good enough platform that it is fairing reasonably well,” she said.

    The channel is in the process of getting into the devising of large scale brand integration including associating with brand ambassadors as a part of the show.

    Wanvari also inquired about the stage where brands want to come in – existing content or new IPs. Dutta replied, “It’s a mix of both. We look at it from the stage where they want to come in. We are extremely brand-friendly. We have got into a lot of on-air properties with brands on campaign to campaign basis. If there is a brand that is targeting kids and they know that the brand ambassador is hugely popular in their TG, then the best route for them would be to look at 365-day association rather than 90-day association.”

  • Sony Yay banks on originals with a slew of fresh content

    Sony Yay banks on originals with a slew of fresh content

    MUMBAI: Home-grown content in India is growing by leaps and bounds. Recently, Discovery Kids launched Little Singham as its new character to spearhead its library of originals and now Sony Yay has also rolled up its sleeves to be in the thick of competition. The channel has a new show, KickO and Super Speedo, on the cards along with 10 original movies.

    Just a year into its launch, Sony Yay’s punt on originals is a bold move. The channel is investing in excess of Rs 50 lakh per episode of KickO and Super Speedo. The show, which will be aired everyday beginning 21st May at 12.00 pm, is being produced by Green Gold that promises to capture kids’ imagination through high-quality 3D animation.

    This summer, it is launching five movies as a part of its movie festival ‘Housefull Fridays’. Based on two of Sony Yay’s flagship shows—Honey Bunny and Guru aur Bhole—the movies being premiered are Honey Bunny in Plane Hijack, Honey Bunny in Himalayan Car Rally, Honey Bunny in Double Impact, Guru aur Bhole the Gladiators and Guru aur Bhole in Alien Busters. Apart from these movies, the channel is also introducing new holiday episodes of the shows.

    Sony Yay business head Leena Lele Dutta said that the channel’s initial plan was to come up with a Marathi audio feed instead of Malayalam. “We want to explore Maharashtra as it constitutes 14 per cent of our portion [target audience]. But we didn’t want to upset the apple cart right now. We decided to stick to our Hindi feed and [therefore] we saw an opportunity to venture into Kerala, considering its dynamics.”

    “The management saw a huge gap in number 1 and 2 slots in terms of market share and critical ratings for Kerala market. That was the only reason to grab the opportunity to emerge in the Kerala market. Bengali was an obvious option for the channel to emerge into,” she added. The roadmap for Sony Yay doesn’t end there. “We might come up with a Marathi audio feed as well but it is not decided yet.”

    Kick starting the year with a bang, the channel has already produced 88 hours of original content and is slated to scale up to an additional 120 hours in the second year. Sony Yay claims that it is the only kids channel to have 100 per cent of its airtime dedicated to original content in the viewable hours (7 am to 10 pm).

    Intending to be a part of not only kids’ entertainment but also a part of their everyday lives, the channel has entered into a licensing and merchandising association with Black White Orange (BWO), a licensing, merchandising and brand agency. The deal includes toys, stationery and apparel.

    Sony Yay has upped the ante for itself within just a year of launch. Taking the plunge into original animated content, the network has set its sights high.

     

  • Sony Yay tests Bengali, Malayalam feeds

    Sony Yay tests Bengali, Malayalam feeds

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks’ kids channel is making strides within a year of launch. Sony Yay plans to add Bengali and Malayalam audio feeds. It already has feeds in Tamil and Telugu.

    The FICCI KPMG report 2018 states that there has been increased interest across broadcasters to be able to provide better quality and fresher content to regional consumers. It also suggests that the increase in weightage to rural India by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) had a positive impact on the kids’ genre, which saw a jump in absolute terms of viewership numbers in 2017 compared to the previous year.

    The channel has started its audio feed testing from Asiasat7 satellite at 105.5 degrees east and will be available on West Bengal’s and Kerala’s main cable network and paid direct-to-home (DTH) services.

    Reports suggest that the kids’ category is growing at 8 per cent in urban and 6 per cent in rural in terms of viewership. It is the biggest category after GEC (general entertainment channel) and movie in the television business. 

    Sony owns the intellectual property (IP) rights for all the shows to squeeze out all the monetary benefits, including merchandising. Though Sony was ready to shell out some money for dubbed or acquired content, it could not find one with a large repertoire of episodes (more than 100) and neither did any content fit the channel’s bill.

    Keeping in mind the demographics, the channel abstained from keeping it English-centric. What makes it more challenging is that BARC found just 14 per cent kids watching kids content while the rest co-viewed with elders. Earlier, in an interaction with Indiantelevision.com, Sony Pictures Network India kids’ genre business head Leena Lele Dutta said, “We wanted to remain indigenous, home-grown and local.”

    BARC data also shows that in its first four weeks of launch (week 20-23 2017), the channel had 25,011 average impressions (000s) sum while the number changed to 22,100 impressions (000s) sum in week 39-42 2017 for all India age 2-14. Despite the decline, it shows that the initial impressions haven’t faded away.

    Sticking to its business mantra, 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—for 52 episodes per show. A fifth show, The Fab 5 – Initial Tango, was released last Christmas and the sixth original will be launched this year. “Slowly, we will build new stories and characters to resonate with the kids of today,” added Lele.

    Also Read :

    Japanese kids’ content going strong despite home-grown onslaught

    Sony Yay builds local characters to monetise

     

  • Women media pros speak out about gender equality in the workplace

    Women media pros speak out about gender equality in the workplace

    MUMBAI:  Women’s Day commemorates the movement for women’s rights. First organised by The Socialist Party of America, the earliest women’s day observance, called National Woman’s Day, was held on 28 February 1909 in New York. 8 March was then suggested by the 1910 International Woman’s Conference and labeled International Woman’s Day.

    Over the past decade, a lot of brouhaha has been created about 8 March – Women’s Day – as a day to celebrate eves all over the world. Even as an increasing number of womenfolk are joining the workforce in India, the perception is that the shift to positions of power has happened for a handful only. Yes there are a few women achievers who have made it to the top rungs of corporations and they feature in flashy features in business magazines and newspapers but the number that has made it to the very top is limited.

    Therefore, Indiantelevision.com spoke to a few industry professionals who have made a mark in the Indian media industry on what Women’s Day means to them and about the status of Indian women in media and entertainment organisations and most of them were blunt that corporate India and especially media and entertainment companies have a lot of distance to cover on the issue of gender equality in the workplace. Read on:

    public://Anita Nayyar_CEO Havas Media Group India & South Asia.jpgAnita Nayyar, CEO India & South Asia  at Havas Media Group

    Women’s day is just another day that reminds me how lucky I am to be a woman and to be one among the many inspiring and accomplished women across the globe. Our (advertising agency’s) work reflects our thinking and mindset which further determines workplace equality. As an industry, we’ve come a long way since the #MeToo movement and with more campaigns like #LikeAGirl, #JaneWalker, #UnitedbyHalf we are surely and swiftly moving in the right direction, towards gender equality. Women, across the world, are expected to play a larger part in handling a household and taking care of their family. Long working hours especially in industries like advertising and media, become a hindrance and affect the overall work-life balance. Although our country boasts of a number of successful women entrepreneurs who have created successful business brands across the world, their journeys have not been easy. Women are still considered as a weaker section of society than men and given less importance.

    At workplaces, women need to first believe in themselves, participate more without hesitation and speak up for their rights. At an organisational level, companies should develop and implement comprehensive anti-discrimination policies, as a starting point. Such policies allow employers to make clear to its employees the types of behaviour that will not be tolerated in the workplace.

    public://anita_0.jpgAnita Kotwani, Leader of Client Leadership at Mindshare

    Why should the significance of women be restricted to a day? Her significance to me is “everyday” where she rises to the occasion and excels both personally and professionally. I think one makes a mark in any industry by the sheer outcome that you drive on the business.  At that time, it’s about results and not about gender bias. You deliver, you leave your mark. The only challenge that I faced in my career was how can I better my performance year on year such that I stand proud of my achievements?

    public://Soniya Kulkarni.jpgSoniya Kulkarni, Creative and Business Head for Formats and Productions at BBC Worldwide India

    The media industry is one of the industries where women have done relatively well as compared to many other industries. It requires lateral thinking, creativity, multitasking and democratic methods of operation, these are the things that most women have long proven to be excellent at. We have several instances of women who are leaders in production houses, programming, writers and designers. However, in the larger corporates you definitely see fewer women in senior and strategic positions.

    I don’t believe that women look for any special concessions at the workplace. We only expect to be treated equally, to be paid as much as our male counterparts are and given the same opportunities and the rest is on us to prove our best abilities.

    public://tata.jpgMegha Tata, Chief Operating Officer at BTVI

    Every day is a reminder to pause and reflect on the achievements of womenfolk around the world. There are many women employed in the media industry but I don’t see too many women as business heads or at the board level. It’s not about males dominating this industry, but there is something fundamentally wrong in the way we function of not making the environment more conducive for women to grow

    In this competitive atmosphere, striking a balance between your work and personal life is not an easy job for working women. A demanding career makes things even more difficult. Even as a mother I adjusted, not compromised in my life. There are times when a PTA meeting was more important than a business meeting and at times vice-versa. That’s the balancing you need to do, this can’t be taught but comes from within you, by your experiences, understanding and prioritising what is important at that moment.

    To ensure a healthy workplace for women, the industry needs to implement an egalitarian work culture, starting with equal opportunities and equal pay. There are some work roles that are less explored by women and organisations should encourage women to take forward such opportunities and support her on every possible step.

    public://Ms Leena Lele Dutta (1).jpgLeena Lele Dutta, Business Head at Sony Pictures Networks India for Kids Genre

    Why do we need to celebrate women for just for a day? I believe the key lies in being more gender neutral. I hope we have a day, in our near future, where women and men are both celebrated, free from prejudices where equality comes through in its true form. Indian media has a very healthy mix of both the genders. Women have been celebrated amongst all the sectors and business sectors especially have always enjoyed a strong presence of women professionals, and often in leadership roles. I believe the glass ceiling is cracked, but it’s yet to be broken.

    There is the adage that ‘she would get judged in whatsoever she does’ and that has been hammered in our minds since the start. Working women essay many roles; a mother, wife, daughter, boss and a team member. It is multi-dimensional, pressured, and unfortunately many succumb to the ‘choice’ they need to make. In my case, I have been blessed with an encouraging husband and family. They have been instrumental in calming my anxieties every time I’m faced at the crossroads of making the ‘choice’ – the decision; especially more so after the birth of my twin boys.

    public://rubeena.jpgRubeena Singh, CEO, iProspect India.

    If you go back in history, you will note that roots of Women’s Day lie in Russia where during the World War 1, where driven to despair by the long lines for food, women went on strike. Much later the UN declared 8 March as Women’s Day to celebrate women’s achievements throughout history and across nations. For me, the fact that we observe Women’s Day means that true gender equality is yet to be attained. In India, the media sector is one of the most gender diverse. Across content creation, marketing, creative, advertising women have been continuously making their mark. That said, at the senior and leadership levels we have a long way to go. 

    public://gada.jpgKranti Gada, SVP at Shemaroo Entertainment

    There are many women out there who know that it is not a level playing field for them and who in their own manner want to change it. Women’s day celebrates and recognises women, their solidarity and support for each other.  This is a day that celebrates their collective interests. I feel women have made some commendable progress in the media industry and continue to make a significant mark for themselves. We now see so many women behind the camera on television sets, in news channels and donning different hats in other creative fields. But what we can’t ignore is that, this industry has its own set of challenges. Media is a dynamic, 24X7 industry and has no fixed hours and day offs. A journalist can be summoned at any hour of the day if there is a news break. Films and television shoots almost always go beyond their twelve hours shift and wrap up into the wee hours of the day. 

    There is a high dose of uncertainty involved in this profession and it does become difficult for women to dabble with work, personal commitments and duties at home. It is up to us to decide whether we will ape the masculine or underline the feminine.

    public://ARCHANA-ANAND (1).jpgArchana Anand, EVP & Head of Digital at ZEE5 India 

    The fact that we need to call out and celebrate this gender with a specific day indicates that we still have some way to go before we claim true equality. Patricia Arquette in her Oscar acceptance speech last year spoke about the need for ‘equal wages’, cheered on by Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez. It is really intriguing that even today, women’s equality is being discussed and debated in hugely public forums of the first world. If Madonna and Meryl Streep feel the inequality strong enough to talk about it, that says a lot.

    People also assume that women will not be able to give their full potential as they have to balance work with usual life breaks; marriage, kids, home management, etc. Then there are often assumptions about women not being analytical enough. Women also have a higher EQ which is often underestimated, as is their ability to multi-task. Just stop seeing them as women and start seeing them as professionals, the way you would any man.
  • Guest Column: The scope for home-grown IPs for kids’ broadcasters

    Guest Column: The scope for home-grown IPs for kids’ broadcasters

    In the Indian television space, the specialised genre on kids emerged in 1995 and has only been growing ever since. The kids’ genre is the third largest, nationally, after Hindi GECs and Hindi movies. The category has seen a gradual shift with 4-14 audiences, with the genre being in single digits in 2005-2006, to now. There has been an exponential growth since then, with the age group increasing to 2-14 as well.

    The components of a child’s behaviour are summarised with two very simple attributes – imagination and spontaneity. But the kids’ genre now is a mature genre and more developed than ever before. Over 168 million kids under the age of 14-years are dedicated viewers. They demand variety, new concepts and most importantly connect with endearing characters.  Be it rural or urban, there is curiosity amongst kids to know more. Therefore, we respond to this need with exciting and engaging content in a language they can effortlessly comprehend.

    With kids relating to an immensely appreciating home-grown content, the scope for original content is unbeatable. Today, at least three out of the top five are Indian characters, reflecting the changing viewer preferences. Movie screenings on Indian cartoon characters rank high as well. Even if we bring foreign content to television screens, there always is a necessity to dub and bring in Indian flavours to be able to connect with the audience. Indian characters always get more traction, as they can be given physicality, context and mannerisms that are Indian and hence are more relatable. This is because kids are inclined towards situations and values they are familiar and comfortable with. 

    Other forms of engaging content created from these characters is where the true scope of growth lies – the ability to create a completely different ecosystem out of television, an edge that acquired content cannot offer.

    Broadcasters and producers have the edge as well since it gives them complete creative freedom – to design the content as well as decide the life of the content. And because they own the IP, the numbers of offerings are boundless. They can range from on-ground activations, merchandising, and brand extensions to other marketing activities.

    The scope for reducing the dependence on acquired content is immense and this is what will continue to boost localised, original content, thus fueling the expansion of the creative talent pool. Moreover, the localised content also attracts the right kind of sponsors to look at opportunities to weave in their brand story.

    It’s been two decades since we have realised the true potential of this genre. While we have come a long way, there is still a long way to go. And, launching with four home-grown shows, we at Sony Yay are just delighted to be a part of the growth journey of the category in the country.

    public://leena.jpgThe author is the business head of Sony Yay. The views expressed are personal and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.
  • Sony Yay builds local characters to monetise

    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.

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    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.

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