ITV

Tag: Spongebob

  • Nickelodeon celebrates SpongeBob SquarePants’ 20th birthday

    Nickelodeon celebrates SpongeBob SquarePants’ 20th birthday

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon – India’s leading kids entertainment franchise boasts of some of the beloved classic shows in its line-up and one such iconic character is celebrating his 20th birthday. Yes, you heard that right! This year marks the 20th birthday of Nickelodeon’s most renowned and beloved SpongeBob SquarePants, the super cool sponge who has inspired pop culture and been a part of every kids’ life since the 90’s. The channel has planned a year-long celebration to celebrate this Bikini Bottom resident through the goofiest gags, memes, fun activities, birthday specials on television and a lot more all year round.

    Nickelodeon in India kicked off the birthday bash festivities by premiering brand new episodes of the show. The channel Nick HD+ also paid tribute to some of the marquee moments of the show on social media platforms with relatable memes and the campaign hashtag being #BeLikeSpongeBob. Nickelodeon is teaming with online micro-fiction platforms like Terribly Tiny Tales and inviting people to share stories on how SpongeBob has been part of their lives, taking fans down memory lane.

    In another birthday special the SpongeBob 3D movie is set to be re-released in August across PVR Playhouse screens pan India (including Mumbai, Delhi, Noida, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai). The movie screening will provide SpongeBob fans i.e. kids as well as adults with one more reason to celebrate the comic capers and fun escapades of the adorable Sponge.

    Globally the brand Nickelodeon apart from the various collaboration and numerous activities all year round partnered with The Pantone Colour Institute to create official SpongeBob Yellow and Patrick Star Pink colours in commemoration of the 20th Anniversary. Not only this but Kyrie Irving and Nike have joined forces with SpongeBob for a colourful range of shoes, which is available for purchase globally. Besides this, from fashion (Moschino X SpongeBob) to automobiles (Toyota) Nickelodeon has gone all out to celebrate this legendary character’s birthday and we’re just getting started cause this is going to be the #BestYearEver !

    Viacom 18 Head- Hindi and Kids TV Network Nina Elavia Jaipuria commented on the celebrations, “Nickelodeon has always introduced characters that kids have loved and adored. Classic characters like SpongeBob SquarePants are a phenomenon and have entertained kids across generations with his nautical mischief. Driven by nostalgia, the internet’s favourite Sponge has been inspiring many pop culture trends globally, as well as in India. This ever optimistic character sets an example for all fans to #BeLikeSpongeBob. The birthday of this pop culture icon will be celebrated all year long with various interesting birthday specials.”

  • Viacom18 and Turner India tie up for Voot’s kids content

    Viacom18 and Turner India tie up for Voot’s kids content

    MUMBAI: Viacom18 and Turner India have announced a strategic tie-up that will see Turner’s popular kids shows play on Viacom18’s over-the-top service Voot.

    With this deal, Voot will add to its already existing powerhouse list of close to 100 characters that cut through broadcast affiliation. Shows likeThe Powerpuff Girls, Ben10, Roll No. 21 and Chotta Bheem alongside Dora, Spongebob, Motu Patlu, Shiva and Pokemon are among the few.

    Commenting on the tie-up, Turner India South Asia senior vice president and managing director Siddharth Jain said, “We at Turner are dedicated in engaging consumers and collaborators in new ways to develop immersive worlds that enable our fans to experience our brands, franchises and content wherever, whenever and however they like. The collaboration with Viacom18 is a strategic move towards achieving this objective of being where our fans are and we know from our own New Generations 2016 research that 71% of today’s plurals are mobile phone users and 30% of them are on surfing the internet.”

    Viacom18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats said, “Online kids content is one of the major white spaces that exists in the country today. Through a dedicated offering within VOOT, called VOOT Kids we had started our journey to create the largest online destination for kids’ content in India. This vision saw us aggregate content from both within our network brand Nick and outside, to launch with over ~7000videos of kids content. This strategic partnership with Turner India will further bolster our content repository for VOOT Kids. Additionally, this also brings two powerhouses of kids content on a singular platform to bring forth the best viewing experience for our loyal little viewers.”

    Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gaurav Gandhi further explained, “With close to one-fifth of all viewing on VOOT coming in for VOOT Kids already, we clearly have managed to catch the attention of one of the most discerning audiences and the true digital natives. With this multi-year strategic tie-up with Turner India, we are adding to the depth and variety of content for this audience.”

  • Viacom18 and Turner India tie up for Voot’s kids content

    Viacom18 and Turner India tie up for Voot’s kids content

    MUMBAI: Viacom18 and Turner India have announced a strategic tie-up that will see Turner’s popular kids shows play on Viacom18’s over-the-top service Voot.

    With this deal, Voot will add to its already existing powerhouse list of close to 100 characters that cut through broadcast affiliation. Shows likeThe Powerpuff Girls, Ben10, Roll No. 21 and Chotta Bheem alongside Dora, Spongebob, Motu Patlu, Shiva and Pokemon are among the few.

    Commenting on the tie-up, Turner India South Asia senior vice president and managing director Siddharth Jain said, “We at Turner are dedicated in engaging consumers and collaborators in new ways to develop immersive worlds that enable our fans to experience our brands, franchises and content wherever, whenever and however they like. The collaboration with Viacom18 is a strategic move towards achieving this objective of being where our fans are and we know from our own New Generations 2016 research that 71% of today’s plurals are mobile phone users and 30% of them are on surfing the internet.”

    Viacom18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats said, “Online kids content is one of the major white spaces that exists in the country today. Through a dedicated offering within VOOT, called VOOT Kids we had started our journey to create the largest online destination for kids’ content in India. This vision saw us aggregate content from both within our network brand Nick and outside, to launch with over ~7000videos of kids content. This strategic partnership with Turner India will further bolster our content repository for VOOT Kids. Additionally, this also brings two powerhouses of kids content on a singular platform to bring forth the best viewing experience for our loyal little viewers.”

    Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gaurav Gandhi further explained, “With close to one-fifth of all viewing on VOOT coming in for VOOT Kids already, we clearly have managed to catch the attention of one of the most discerning audiences and the true digital natives. With this multi-year strategic tie-up with Turner India, we are adding to the depth and variety of content for this audience.”

  • Sohu to stream Nickelodeon programs in China

    Sohu to stream Nickelodeon programs in China

    MUMBAI: For a few years now, animated shows like SpongeBob SquarePants, have entertained the young viewers almost across the world. Now, many such popular Nickelodeon children’s programs will be dubbed into Mandarin and available to watch free online in China over the next 12 months in the latest deal to give a foreign entertainment company more access to China’s vast market.

    Sohu Video, a unit of popular Chinese Web portal Sohu.com, recently announced an online video-on-demand and video syndication collaboration in China with Viacom International Media Networks, a unit of Viacom Inc.

    The government in China restricts foreign access to the country’s television audience and bars most of its cable operators from carrying foreign channels. However, it’s the online video platforms that give the audience an access to foreign productions.

     

    In a joint statement, the companies said the deal will enable an estimated 389 million Chinese online video users to watch Mandarin-dubbed and subtitled Nickelodeon programming on Sohu’s site, however the details of the deal hasn’t been revealed.

    Sohu Video started offering more than 200 hours of Nickelodeon programming, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Avatar Sunday onwards.

    Sohu’s video site is populated with American TV shows, Japanese animation series, Chinese variety shows and in-house programs. It obtained the exclusive online broadcast rights for the second season of hit reality talent show The Voice of China, shown earlier this year, generating nearly 2 billion video views, according to Sohu.

  • Nick launches mobile game for ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ on iOS

    Nick launches mobile game for ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ on iOS

    MUMBAI: US kids broadcaster Nickelodeon has launched a new city building app, SpongeBob Moves In. Available worldwide, SpongeBob Moves In features a 2D design and aims to give fans a new way to interact with the animated series ‘SpongeBob Squarepants‘.

    In the game built for iOS, players build Bikini Bottom to their own tastes and are tasked with keeping the city‘s residents happy by making all their wishes come true. As players advance in the game, they can unlock exclusive-to-the-app, untold stories about how their characters, including SpongeBob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Plankton, Squidward and Sandy, first arrived in the town. Written by the SpongeBob SquarePants series writing staff, these stories are told through new animated short videos unlocked throughout the game.

    Nickelodeon group executive VP and GM digital Steve Youngwood said, “Millions of fans around the world experience the fun and magic of SpongeBob on television every day, and now they can live out their very own Bikini Bottom adventures with SpongeBob Moves In whenever and wherever they want”.

    SpongeBob Moves In is available worldwide in eight languages: English, Spanish (Latam), Spanish (Spain), German, French, Dutch, Portuguese and Italian.

  • ‘We are the second stickiest channel in the category today’ : Nina Elavia Jaipuria – Nick India VP and GM

    ‘We are the second stickiest channel in the category today’ : Nina Elavia Jaipuria – Nick India VP and GM

    Driving Nick India from a market share of a mere 9 per cent to 18 per cent has been a phenomenal journey for Nick India VP and GM Nina Elavia Jaipuria. The eight-year old kids’ channel got its act together last year and since then there has been no looking back. After years of relative reticence, popular characters Spongebob, Ninja and Perman are lifting the channel up.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Richa Dubey, Jaipuria reveals what strategy worked for Nick and how she plans to grow the kids’ channel in a fiercely competitive marketplace.

     

    Excerpts:

    Nick has taken its channel share from 9 per cent in January 2007 to 18 per cent by the year-end. What has led to this fast growth?
    There was no fixed mantra but just a few insights which helped us get to the position where we are now. To feel the pulse of the kids, we built a connect with them, Indianised the channel and went beyond traditional TV.

     

    Everything done on the channel was done in a fashion to connect with kids – right from the way we packaged our shows, to dubbing and selecting the content, and scripting them.

     

    We have been very innovative in marketing our channel. We add an Indian flavour to whatever we do. For example, we celebrated festivals like Janmashtami by putting slime in the handi. We did Holi with Holi flash.

    While every channel in the genre is trying to do the same, how did you ensure to look different?
    Our first effort was to Indianise the channel and that worked wonders for us. It helped us in building affinity with kids.

     

    We interacted with kids more and more. We were no more a passive channel that they used to watch. We became a regular destination for them. We built a bond with the child and at every point of time the kid could have a dialogue with us through IVRS, SMS or through our website. There were initiatives like “Bhoot Aya,” “Chaddhi Buddy,” etc. which kept the kids engaged.

     

    In 12 months, we did some 19 initiatives. This means that at any given point of time, a kid could actually interact with us.

    Nick was perceived to be a very western channel. Wasn’t that a hindrance in getting the kids’ eyeballs?
    Yes, for a while, Nick was thought of as a very western channel with shows that were international. We acquired shows from the Asian territory and Indianised them. Shows like Perman, Munnabhai, Ninja Hatori. were Asian and brought a lot of Indianness on the channel.

    How interactive was Nick with kids?
    Interactivity is not just about interacting but about having a lot of fun. A lot of ideas were out of the box. Through initiatives like “Chaddhi Buddy,” where we ran a contest, we took best friends Spongebob and Patrick to the winner. Several other initiatives like Lot Pot, Pakda Pakdi, Masti Dosti, Chak De Ninja wih Ajay Jadeja or Gift Mangta, etc. helped us build the connect. Fundoo Star was another very innovative initiative whereby we got the kids on the TV.

     

    Engagement is very important as it keeps kids away from the remote. Our programming was such that it made them not to surf in and out of the channel, and made it very sticky for the kids. Following this, channel stickiness grew by 40 per cent. We are the second stickiest channel in the category today.

    What was the 360-degree approach you adopted?
    The other thing was enhancing the connection with a 360-degree approach. We went to places where kids were present. If they were watching general entertainment channels (GEC), then we had our ads on the GECs so that we got noticed by our TG and their parents. We promoted ourselves on the channel which families and kids together watched. We had promotions running across shows like Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs, Voice of India and Boogie Woogie, which are popular among kids and families.

     

    We also did a lot of activities in shopping malls and schools. Nick went beyond TV and made it tangible. Kids could touch and feel their favourite characters, and that is the ultimate thing for them.

     

    Today it is all about viral and word of mouth. We also went on to retail our properties across various categories – apparels, story boards, PC games, water bottles, etc. Nick characters also appeared in Diamond Comics.
    ‘We would utilise our foreign library first and only then would we get into local content‘

    In terms of programming, how have you distinguished yourself from the other channels?
    As a kids’ broadcaster, it is important to realise that kids come to TV for relief. They want to be away from teachers and parents through Nick. We are a clean and responsible broadcaster. Within the genre, we offer a variety of programming. Our shows have slapstick comedy and silent humour, and even if there is a little action, it only adds to the humour.

     

    We realised that movies are a big source of entertainment for kids. So we launched “Nick Home Cinema” which has so far done very well.

    Could you please elaborate on your summer line-up?
    A new show Niender will kick off on 21 April. We also have a couple of new movies like Dinotopia and Under the Black Flag.

     

    We will show an entirely new series of Ninja Hatori and Perman which will be aired back to back. We are also planning interactive stuff around Mother’s Day which falls on 11 May.

    Like others in the genre, do you also have plans to foray into local content production?
    Kids’ content knows no boundaries. We have such a huge library worldwide and it has been popular. We would utilise it first and only then would we get into local content. It is just a matter of time. There is a lot of content still to be exploited. Until we have utilised all of that, I don’t think we will go ahead and manufacture it.

    Do you think that frequent channel launches are affecting the kids’ genre?
    No, not at all. In fact, the genre has grown and it’s all due to the offerings of the other channels. A kid does not want to watch a GEC. S/he needs to be given something different.

     

    There has been an increase in kids viewership. Kids are continuously getting enticed by the channel offerings. GECs do not focus on kids at all. The more focused and customised the offerings, the better is the growth of the category.

     

    Moreover, pester power is also influencing parents to let kids spend more time in front of TV.

    How much has passive viewership helped the channel?
    The trend is slowly changing. It’s now parents spending more time with kids on the kids’ channels. Kids’ programmes are very inclusive so the parents can also watch along with their kids. A lot of co-viewing is happening.

    Advertisers are taking advantage of that?
    Pester power and passive viewership have helped the channels in terms of advertisements. A lot of FMCGs, insurance and telecom brands have started advertising on kids’ channels. None of these directly target kids, but they obviously understand that co-viewing is happening.

     

    We ourselves started with 17 brands and now we have around 80 on board.

    Even GECs show kids’ programmes during weekends. Do you see that spoiling your Sunday line-up of shows?
    I would not deny that anything that is catering to a kid is a threat to us. Kids are not channel loyal; they are programme loyal. A kid watches a particular channel because of the show. The fact is that there is a lot of scope in kids, and so GECs are catering to them. Kids will watch a good film on any channel. But as a core kids’ broadcaster, we provide a complete 360-degree experience to the kids. We have our own set of marketing initiatives which make us stand apart.

    How do you ensure that Nick reaches to kids beyond TV in tier-2 cities?
    We normally try and reach cities in the Hindi speaking markets (HSM). We select key cities in UP, MP, Rajshthan and other parts in north India such as cities like Badodara, Surat, Ajmer, Jaipur, Allahabad, Varanasi and few others.

     

    We are available to around 24 million C&S homes.

    Do you have any plans to expand in the southern market?
    Our audio feed is available in English. We will consolidate our presence in HSM and only then explore the southern market. In Chennai, we are available in Cas (conditional accesss system) homes.

     

    We have syndicated some of our shows like Dora-the Explorer and Avtaar to Sun Network’s Chutti TV. We also have a tie-up with Jet Airways, who play our shows on the flights.
    Is there an increase in ad sales during vacations?
    Yes, there is but not much as it is seasonal. As far as viewership is concerned, vacation-watching contributes 20 per cent of the channel’s total audiences.
  • Nick ramps up Feb-schedule with two new shows & SpongeBob ‘Pakda Pakdi’ contest

    Nick ramps up Feb-schedule with two new shows & SpongeBob ‘Pakda Pakdi’ contest

    MUMBAI: Nick India is in rejig mode and is set to make a lot of noise this February. Kicking off the month, the channel will launch two new acquired shows Tumoya Island and Meteor and The Mighty Monster Trucks on its pre- school block Nick Jr. from Monday to Friday at 9.30 am and 10.30 am respectively.

    Tumoya Island narrates the fun between three friends Mafi, Buddy and Mekki, while Meteor…. tells the story of an aspiring astronaut truck and his adventures with his friends.

    Close on the heels of the ‘Masti Dosti’ contest, Nick has yet another SpongeBob based initiative titled ‘Pakda Pakdi’ to be rolled out across the channel on 5 Feburary.

    During the four week watch and win contest, kids will have to spot SpongeBob zooming across the screen on either a skateboard, a rope or a scooter during primetime (6-8 pm) from Monday to Friday and report it back to the channel.

    The idea behind the contest, Nick India vice president and general manager Nina Elavia Jaipuria explains that the theme is centered around the fact that SpongeBob is fatigued after a whole year’s work and is planning a holiday get away to theme park Nick Central in Australia. Unfortunately, his best buddy Patrick refuses to let him go and it is here that the viewers get involved to help SpongeBob in his efforts to escape from Patrick only to be rewarded with a free trip for one lucky winner and his family to Nick Central. Thus the tagline “SpongeBob Pakro Australia Jao.”

    What’s more, kids can also win television sets, discmans, mobile phones remote controlled cars and MP3 players everyday for spotting SpongeBob getting away from Patrick.

    To promote the contest, Nick has adopted a 360 degree approach and has tied up for cross channel promotions with Sony, SAB, MAX, Zee, Zee Cinema and Sahara as well as regional channels like ETV Marathi or Zee Bangla.

    Additionally, the campaign will be supported with a school contact programme which will be conducted across 350 schools in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata reaching out to almost 3, 00,000 kids. “We will distribute activity sheets, stickers, small quizzes to create a very comprehensive programme at schools. Nick will also have ‘meet and greet’ events with SpongeBob and Patrick in malls and multiplexes during the weekends when the footfalls are high,” says Jaipuria.

    Members of the ‘Nicksters Club’ will also be intimated via direct mailers or post so as to reach out to every Nick fan giving them an opportunity to compete for the grand prize.

    The contest has roped in four key sponsors including LIC as the main sponsors, co-presenting sponsors Maggi rice noodles Mania and associate sponsors Perfitti’s Big Babool and Tata Sky.

    The SpongeBob themed initiative follows as a continues and concerted effort by the channel to build a bond between the character and kids, so as to make SpongeBob synonymous with Nick. At the same time this will drive kids to sample the show and up the presence of the channel in India.

    By way of on-ground events Nick is going to bring other characters to Indian shores so kids can better relate to them. “In a similar manner, we will bring Dora The Explora for our juniors in India sometime later this year,” adds Jaipuria.

  • Nick selects best buddy duo to win ‘Masti Dosti’ contest

    Nick selects best buddy duo to win ‘Masti Dosti’ contest

    MUMBAI: Nick’s month long contest titled ‘Masti Dosti’ culminated with the announcement of Arshaan Maloo as the winner. The Mumbai kid Arshaan and his best friend Sushant Adlakha were selected as the lucky pair to take home the grand prize of goodies. What’s more, the duo will also be featured on a special Nick Promo with Spongebob and his best friend Patrick on the channel.

    Participating kids could win big not only for themselves but also their friends by watching back-to-back episodes of Nick’s characters and best buds Spongebob and Patrick, Ninja Hattori and Kenny Chee and Munnabhai and Circuit, spot the prizes on air and report them to the channel, states an official release.

    Apart from the two winners, other kids who participated in the contest also won prizes like remote controlled cars, Gameboys, DVD players, cell phones, MP3 players, discmans and rollerblades – all in pairs!

    Winner, Arshaan Maloo (next to Patrick Star), age 11, is a die hard Spongebob Squarepants fan, he also loves watching Drake and Josh and Jimmy Neutron on Nick. Speaking about his best friend Sushant Adlakha, Arshaan recalls the time when he fractured his right hand in the 5th grade and Sushant helped him out by packing his bag and doing his home-work for him, thus literally becoming his right hand man…. ‘Just what Patrick is for Sponge bob’, chuckles the 11 yr old.

    “Boss, dost ho toh aisa…”, added Arshaan.

     

  • Nick kicks off Masti-Dosti contest; plans multi-media campaign

    Nick kicks off Masti-Dosti contest; plans multi-media campaign

    MUMBAI: In line with Nick’s new funda “Bitaiye masti ke pal, apne khas doston ke sang,” the channel will kick off the Masti-Dosti contest starting 4 December on the Masti-Dosti block from 6 – 7 pm, Monday to Friday.

    Nick also seems to be pulling up their socks in promoting this initiative, with plans of launching a multi-media campaign. This would comprise of television, print and on-ground, including colourfully painted school buses and visits to the agencies by its characters – SpongeBob SquarePants and his buddy, Patrick.

    To participate in the Masti-Dosti Contest, kids have to spot the prize on air and report it right back to Nick by calling 1250111555 in Mumbai and Delhi or 1250155 in other cities, or SMS ‘NICK’ followed by either A, B or C and their name to 6882. Alternatively, they can log on to www.nickindia.com and participate in the contest.

    Remote controlled cars, Gameboys, DVD players, cell phones, MP3 players, Discmans and rollerblades – all in pairs will be up for grabs. Ten lucky winners will have the privilege of seeing their names on air. As for the grand prize winner – he/she and a friend get to feature in special promotion that will be aired on Nick at the end of the contest, informs an official release.

    If back-to-back episodes of Nick’s characters and best buds Spongebob and Patrick, Ninja Hattori and Kenny Chee and Munnabhai and Circuit scheming, ploting, sharing and caring is not enough. On the eve of World AIDS Day, the channel extended its hand of ‘dosti’ to children from the NGO – Committed Community Development Trust (CCDT) to come and party with Nick buddies SpongeBob and Patrick and enjoy Nickloads of fun.

    Speaking on the initiative, Nick India vice president and general manager Nina Jaipuria said, “At the onset of the festive season, Masti-Dosti is Nick’s unique way of reaching out and celebrating the ‘spirit of friendship’ with the kids. Over the past many months Nick has formed a special bond with the kids and ‘Masti-Dosti’ is an initiative to strengthen that even further.”

  • Nick takes over the skies with Singapore Airlines

    Nick takes over the skies with Singapore Airlines

    MUMBAI: This month and next month kids broadcaster Nickelodeon’s Rugrats toddlers and the party animals from Barnyard will be taking to the skies with junior flyers and Singapore Airlines.

    One of the Barnyard characters or Rugrats babies will be accompanying Singapore Airlines’ junior flyers when they embark on their journey. All travellers under 12 will receive a fun pack filled with books and activities that will keep them preoccupied on their flight.

    In addition to this, movies such as Barnyard: The Original Party Animals and Rugrats in Paris, as well as the Rugrats cartoon series will be featured on the Singapore Airlines award-winning in-flight entertainment system, KrisWorld.

    Singapore Airlines VP in-flight services Betty Wong says, “We are delighted to present this triple dose of Barnyard and Rugrats premiums, and the cartoon series and movies to entertain our young travellers,” said the . “We want our young flyers to have fun and be entertained on all our flights.

    “We will continue to feature new cartoon characters on all flights in addition to the all-time favourite SpongeBob SquarePants premiums that we introduced last year.”

    KrisWorld has a range of entertainment options for the youngsters with not just popular TV programmes and cartoons, but also the latest children’s CDs and soundtracks, and a large menu of games including Pokemon, Super Mario Bros Deluxe, Winnie the Pooh, Lion King Paddle Bash, Tic Tack Toe, in-flight Tetris and much much more.

    This alliance is a reflection of both companies’ commitment to the children’s’ needs when flying and travelling. Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products Asia senior VP Indrea Suharjono says, “Our renewed alliance with Singapore Airlines’ in-flight programme marks an important step in strengthening our relationship with kids all over the world, living up to Nickelodeon’s philosophy of putting kids first in everything that we do.”