ITV

Tag: Toonami

  • Is it the end of the road for anime in India?

    Is it the end of the road for anime in India?

    MUMBAI: Back in the 90s, a new legion of toon addicts was created in India with the advent of anime shows such as Pokémon, Dragonball Z and Naruto that were telecast on Cartoon Network. A few years later, the genre hasn’t found the popularity in Indian kids that it has in some other parts of the world.

    The popularity of anime has suffered owing to parental restrictions because of the adult themes in some of the content, relatively low promotions and the lack of merchandising. Long gone are the days when anime fans, or Otaku, went bonkers collecting tazos or duel master cards or even the Pokémon Red Emulators.

    While cartoons and anime are both caricature sketches that are, in turn, animated, the latter has a very distinct style of art using specific visual elements for its characters. A majority of the animes are based on manga comics that were not easily available in India until online shopping companies started selling anime DVDs and manga comics from other parts of the world.

    Sony Pictures Entertainment’s channel Animax was one of the channels that aired Japanese anime content in 1998. Last year, the channel was replaced by Sony Yay, which has a full-fledged focus on local home-grown content. Recently, Turner International India announced that it would pull the plug on its anime offering Toonami from 15 May. This is a clear indication that the genres failed to elicit interest from its young audience. At present, Toonami airs shows from the Cartoon Network Studios, Hanna-Barbera and the Warner Bros Animation libraries.

    Doraemon, Shinchan and Ninja Hattori, which are still the most popular among kids after Chhota Bheem, started life as manga series and were subsequently adapted as anime shows. These shows are among the flagship shows that the Indian broadcasters showed on television but, as the TV viewing evolved, the focus shifted to local home-grown content. That was the time when Chhota Bheem was born in 2008.

    A media professional said that anime series are still popular among the kids. “Who wouldn’t love watching Pokemon, Dragonball Z. These shows would have worked only if they were promoted well like the shows like Chhota Bheem, Motu Patlu and among others. If these channels push anime content, the kids will love it. It is not the case like kids are not watching these shows that are why they are shutting the channel; in fact, it is because they want to come up with their original content.”

    However, another media expert had a different view. “Japanese content was created during the 70s and 80s and was picked up by the broadcasters because they had to fill the programming slots, so there’s a different approach between Japanese content and original content,” they pointed out.

    In the early years of Indian animation, broadcasters found it suitable to licence shows from other countries for air time. But as the industry picked up, producing and owning IPs became cost-effective. Channels didn’t need to depend on borrowed material like anime. Another aspect is that it is not easy to dub anime content, considering the different East Asian culture. Local shows can be easily modified to the kids’ thinking.

    However, it would be wrong to say that the anime culture isn’t developing in India. Growing fan clubs; online social media groups are providing great platforms to share and gather information; stores are printing anime clothes, cups, gifts and other merchandise for shopping in several areas. Though not in every city, Comic Cons are being organised and promoted as well. Awareness is increasing, but slowly and it seems the teen and adult audiences are more inclined towards it than children.

    It remains to be seen whether Turner comes up with a replacement of Toonami just the way Sony Yay entered the market. The future of Indian home-grown content seems bright, as far as new characters emerging on every kids’ channels is concerned, but it will be interesting to observe whether broadcasters find answers to the conundrum of Japanese anime content in India.

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  • Cartoon Network HD+ adds Tamil, Telugu feeds

    Cartoon Network HD+ adds Tamil, Telugu feeds

    MUMBAI: Joining the bandwagon of launching local language feeds in the kids’ TV sector is Turner India’s Cartoon Network. The company has undertaken a soft launch of its new channel Cartoon Network HD+ from 15 April 2018 and has Hindi, Tamil and Telugu feeds along with English.

    Turner India has started testing signals for Cartoon Network HD+ for a phased roll out over the next few weeks, according to a Turner India spokesperson.

    Nickelodeon, Disney, Sony Yay, Cartoon Network and Discovery Kids all have Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and English feeds for their kids. Broadcasters are finally realising the viewership addition that the South Indian languages can add. Only Sony Yay stands out of the crowd as it has Bengali and Malayalam feeds as well.

    According to FICCI-KPMG’s report for 2018, 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.

    Another BARC report found that just 14 per cent of kids watch children’s content while the rest end up co-viewing with elders, thus giving broadcasters an opportunity to grab this passive young audience.

    Original programming from Cartoon Network will be available on the channel. Shows like Adventure Time, The Amazing World of Gumball, We Bare Bears and some brand new exclusive shows are in the pipeline.

    After nearly two decades of successful strategic collaboration, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEE) and Turner International (Turner) had mutually decided to work independently for driving subscription revenue. Both companies joined hands back in 2002 to manage distribution and trade marketing for a bouquet of channels in India.  Turner appointed IndiaCast Media distribution as its exclusive distribution agent.

    In September 2016, Turner had launched HBO HD by rebranding its erstwhile HBO Hits channel. Turner’s India portfolio includes CNN International, Cartoon Network, POGO, Toonami, HBO, and WB.

    Also read:

    20 years later, ‘The Powerpuff Girls’ still breaking stereotypes

    Japanese kids’ content going strong despite home-grown onslaught

    Sony Yay tests Bengali, Malayalam feeds

  • Chakra movies to air on Toonami; Astra Force coming soon

    Chakra movies to air on Toonami; Astra Force coming soon

    MUMBAI: After its successful debut on Cartoon Network in 2013, Graphic India and Stan Lee’s “Chakra The Invincible” is back with three new installments of “Made for TV” movies for Turner International. Chakra is the brainchild Graphic India’s Sharad Devarajan, and POW Entertainment founder Stan Lee, who is credited with creating billion-dollar character intellectual properties such as the Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Thor and the X-Men.

    Sixty to 70 mins long, the first of the three installments, Chakra Rise of the Infinitus, was aired on Turner’s Toonami last Sunday, while the second and third animated movies are scheduled for December-end and first half of 2017.

    “The movie will subsequently be aired on other Turner channels such as Cartoon Network,” said Devarajan. “I have had a great long-standing partnership with Krishna Desai who heads Turner’s kids content division. He is a true fan of comics books; Stan Lee and I saw the true potential for this kind of unique content,” Devarajan added on choosing Turner as the broadcast partner.

    To make the content travel to regional markets as well, the movies have been produced in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu feeds. Apart from its TV broadcasts in India, Graphic India is largely looking into syndicating the TV movies to other international markets. “Our partnership is only for the Indian market, but Graphic India is aggressively expanding to other markets with foreign broadcasting partners as well. We have already partnered with Angry Birds creators, Rovio Entertainment, and its digital platform ToonsTV, making Chakra as the first third-party character to have launched on the platform.”

    The character received a warm welcome from the fan boys in the United States. “Kids from the mid-west America have been found dressing up as an Indian superhero in cosplay conventions and birthday parties — that is how popular it is in the western markets,” Devarajan shared, adding that 100,000 copies of the comic book have been distributed in the North American market.

    Devarajan also has big plans to market the character in India, starting in the next two to three months which will tied to the promotion of the live action Bollywood film inspired by Chakra, announced by Phantom Films (in 2017).

    “We will be pushing the distribution of the comic book, organise live events, and ensure that Chakra has a visibility in games, merchandise and promotions deals with brands in India.”

    Devarajan shied away from discussing the actual budget of the latest series of TV movies, but he reassured that they have scaled up the production.

    “Now that we are getting international market attention about distribution, the more we move to multi-market, the scope of expanding both, scale and budget, increases. Working only in the Indian market gives us limited options, but when foreign players are willing to invest, we naturally consider a higher budget,” he added.

    Apart from Chakra The Invincible, Graphic India will also see its long-announced animated series “Astra Force” (featuring an animated Amitabh Bachchan) see the light of the day this year-end with Disney India being the broadcast partner.

  • Chakra movies to air on Toonami; Astra Force coming soon

    Chakra movies to air on Toonami; Astra Force coming soon

    MUMBAI: After its successful debut on Cartoon Network in 2013, Graphic India and Stan Lee’s “Chakra The Invincible” is back with three new installments of “Made for TV” movies for Turner International. Chakra is the brainchild Graphic India’s Sharad Devarajan, and POW Entertainment founder Stan Lee, who is credited with creating billion-dollar character intellectual properties such as the Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Thor and the X-Men.

    Sixty to 70 mins long, the first of the three installments, Chakra Rise of the Infinitus, was aired on Turner’s Toonami last Sunday, while the second and third animated movies are scheduled for December-end and first half of 2017.

    “The movie will subsequently be aired on other Turner channels such as Cartoon Network,” said Devarajan. “I have had a great long-standing partnership with Krishna Desai who heads Turner’s kids content division. He is a true fan of comics books; Stan Lee and I saw the true potential for this kind of unique content,” Devarajan added on choosing Turner as the broadcast partner.

    To make the content travel to regional markets as well, the movies have been produced in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu feeds. Apart from its TV broadcasts in India, Graphic India is largely looking into syndicating the TV movies to other international markets. “Our partnership is only for the Indian market, but Graphic India is aggressively expanding to other markets with foreign broadcasting partners as well. We have already partnered with Angry Birds creators, Rovio Entertainment, and its digital platform ToonsTV, making Chakra as the first third-party character to have launched on the platform.”

    The character received a warm welcome from the fan boys in the United States. “Kids from the mid-west America have been found dressing up as an Indian superhero in cosplay conventions and birthday parties — that is how popular it is in the western markets,” Devarajan shared, adding that 100,000 copies of the comic book have been distributed in the North American market.

    Devarajan also has big plans to market the character in India, starting in the next two to three months which will tied to the promotion of the live action Bollywood film inspired by Chakra, announced by Phantom Films (in 2017).

    “We will be pushing the distribution of the comic book, organise live events, and ensure that Chakra has a visibility in games, merchandise and promotions deals with brands in India.”

    Devarajan shied away from discussing the actual budget of the latest series of TV movies, but he reassured that they have scaled up the production.

    “Now that we are getting international market attention about distribution, the more we move to multi-market, the scope of expanding both, scale and budget, increases. Working only in the Indian market gives us limited options, but when foreign players are willing to invest, we naturally consider a higher budget,” he added.

    Apart from Chakra The Invincible, Graphic India will also see its long-announced animated series “Astra Force” (featuring an animated Amitabh Bachchan) see the light of the day this year-end with Disney India being the broadcast partner.

  • Turner channels build buzz around ‘Batman v/s Superman: Dawn of Justice’

    Turner channels build buzz around ‘Batman v/s Superman: Dawn of Justice’

    MUMBAI: With the craziness surrounding the Batman v/s Superman: Dawn of Justice movie which will hit the cinema halls on 25 March, Turner operated channels are pulling out all stops to make viewers a key part of the experience. The celebrations will kick-start with a competition to attend exclusive red carpet events in India and Europe. Winners will also get the opportunity to win exclusive merchandise.

    There is also a special treat for fan-boys and girls on Toonami, which will showcase special Batman and Superman movies on Saturdays and Sundays at 11:45 am. On the other hand, all of Turner’s kids channels- Cartoon Network, POGO and Toonami will also have special contests for the superhero fans that will help them win exclusive movie merchandise.

    Living up to its new brand philosophy #LikeNeverBefore, HBO will give the consumers once in a lifetime opportunity via its new mobile app. Viewers can download RUSHH, and can get a chance to enter a competition to win a chance to rub shoulders with celebrities on red-carpet premiere events in London, Delhi and Mumbai.

    WB channel will also air a spellbinding ‘choose your side’ teaser which will be promoted across social media and numerous digital platforms.

     

  • Turner channels build buzz around ‘Batman v/s Superman: Dawn of Justice’

    Turner channels build buzz around ‘Batman v/s Superman: Dawn of Justice’

    MUMBAI: With the craziness surrounding the Batman v/s Superman: Dawn of Justice movie which will hit the cinema halls on 25 March, Turner operated channels are pulling out all stops to make viewers a key part of the experience. The celebrations will kick-start with a competition to attend exclusive red carpet events in India and Europe. Winners will also get the opportunity to win exclusive merchandise.

    There is also a special treat for fan-boys and girls on Toonami, which will showcase special Batman and Superman movies on Saturdays and Sundays at 11:45 am. On the other hand, all of Turner’s kids channels- Cartoon Network, POGO and Toonami will also have special contests for the superhero fans that will help them win exclusive movie merchandise.

    Living up to its new brand philosophy #LikeNeverBefore, HBO will give the consumers once in a lifetime opportunity via its new mobile app. Viewers can download RUSHH, and can get a chance to enter a competition to win a chance to rub shoulders with celebrities on red-carpet premiere events in London, Delhi and Mumbai.

    WB channel will also air a spellbinding ‘choose your side’ teaser which will be promoted across social media and numerous digital platforms.

     

  • Turner International ups Mark Eyers as SVP

    Turner International ups Mark Eyers as SVP

    MUMBAI: Turner International Asia Pacific has promoted Mark Eyers to senior vice president. 

     

    As chief content officer, Eyers oversees every aspect of Turner’s kids content business and portfolio of leading kids brands across Asia Pacific including Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Toonami and Pogo.

     

    Based in Hong Kong, Eyers will focus on strengthening the planning process for these brands, identifying and developing fresh animation talent on local, regional and international level as well as opportunities to further develop and distribute hit properties and content franchises across the company’s multiple platforms – TV, web and mobile.

     

    He will also be accountable for spearheading new channel development across the region.

     

    Turner International Asia Pacific president Ricky Ow said, “Under Mark’s leadership, Turner’s kids brands have not only dominated the genre but also expanded tremendously across the region. He has spearheaded the growth of our kids brands across multi-platform while also leading numerous international original animation productions, including the award-winning Monster Beach and recent series Exchange Student Zero. His promotion is a timely acknowledgement of his contribution to the importance of the kids brands to Turner’s business in this region and the confidence we have in him to further build upon it.”

     

    Eyers, joined Turner International Asia Pacific’s creative services team in 2004 and previously worked as vice president of kids content. In this capacity, he was responsible for the implementation of a unified programming vision across all Turner brands by integrating the original production and development unit within the programming division.

  • Turner green lights new kids co-production with Synergy Media & Studio Goindol

    Turner green lights new kids co-production with Synergy Media & Studio Goindol

    MUMBAI: Turner Broadcasting has greenlit a new co-production with Synergy Media and Studio Goindol, marking the network’s biggest ever animation project in Korea.

     

    Titled Beat Monsters, the series is a comedy starring alien monsters from outer space on the lookout for the ultimate beat. There will be 52×2’ shorts and additional micro-shorts. Each episode will fuse live-action footage and CGI animation techniques to create a rich and colourful environment.

     

    “These fun and fresh shorts are exactly what we’re looking for as part of our International Shorts Program. We’re really pleased to find a like minded and globally-focused partner in Korea. When it launches, Beat Monsters will deliver world-class laughs around the world from London to Lagos, and Madrid to Manila,” said Turner kids networks Asia Pacific chief content officer Mark Eyers.

     

    Beat Monsters is expected to air in late 2016 on Turner’s portfolio of kids’ channels in Asia Pacific including Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Toonami, as well as on Cartoon Network in EMEA. The project is under development with the assistance from Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) and, in 2014, the pilot short was named ‘Best-in-Show’ at the Asian Animation Summit.

     

    Synergy Media president Eugene Kang said, “To partner with Turner and have exposure for our IP across millions of households is a real boon for us. I am really happy to see humorous Asian ideas go global, and hope that this is just the first of many projects and co-productions that Turner and Synergy will be able to work on together.”

     

    “Beat Monsters is so hilarious and we can’t wait to start production. We have high hopes for this bunch of crazy and adorable alien characters, and we will soon get to meet these guys in real life. It is inspiring for us that Beat Monsters fits perfectly with Turner, and I hope that our little guys make a huge impact as a result of this cooperation,” added Studio Goindol president and Beat Monsters director.

     

    Turner Asia Pacific is currently working with studios and animators to produce original shorts and micro-shorts in Singapore, Taiwan, India, Australia, the US and Japan, especially after the increase in demand for short-form content.

  • Turner Broadcasting & Warner Bros. sign global multi-series deal for Boomerang

    Turner Broadcasting & Warner Bros. sign global multi-series deal for Boomerang

    MUMBAI: Turner Broadcasting and Warner Bros. the two Time Warner companies have decided to deepen their ongoing partnership with a global agreement that will build on the company’s two-network strategy by strengthening the pipeline of original content being developed for the recently rebranded Boomerang.

     

    The agreement, which represents the first-ever original content being developed exclusively for Boomerang, includes nearly 450 half-hours of programming from Warner Bros. Animation. The content will premiere on all Boomerang channels worldwide and on some Cartoon Network channels internationally, along with potential crossover with Turner Broadcasting’s Pogo and Toonami in Asia, and Boing and Cartoon Network in other territories.

     

    The partnership also extends Boomerang’s access to the classic animation portfolio from the Hanna-Barbera, MGM and Warner Bros. Animation collection, a total of 3,500 titles. Drawing upon the vast resources of the world’s largest animation library which includes contemporary classics from Cartoon Network Studios, Boomerang’s on-air schedule will continue to feature timeless favorites like Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo!, programming that has multi-generational appeal and great co-viewership.

     

    “Turner Broadcasting has a very strong kids and family business around the world and our exciting new partnership with Warner Bros. presents a number of new opportunities that will help strategically grow the Boomerang brand,” said Cartoon Network president and general manager, Boomerang adult swim Christina Miller. 

     

    “Through this expanded relationship with our corporate partners, we will create new content that will engage fans across a variety of screens and platforms and further grow these timeless franchises that we’ll leverage not only across Boomerang but also our global kids and family portfolio of businesses,” added Miller.

     

     Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Digital Series president Sam Register said, “With the television landscape becoming more and more crowded, we are extremely fortunate to have one of the largest animation libraries, with some of the world’s most iconic and revered characters, and to be embarking on this important new partnership with Turner and Boomerang. This deal presents an exciting creative opportunity to explore this vast collection, to develop new and compelling programming based on these beloved characters, and to introduce them to new generations of families.”

     

    Premiering this autumn will be the first of Boomerang’s new original series from Warner Bros. Animation. Bunnicula is an all-new animated comedy series based on the bestselling children’s book of the same name. The series follows the paranormal comedy adventures of Bunnicula the vampire rabbit, who – instead of drinking blood – drains the juice of carrots and other vegetables to boost his supernatural abilities. Be Cool Scooby-Doo! is an all-new 22-minute animated comedy series featuring the Scooby gang, back with a modern comedic twist on the beloved classic. This time, the gang is working as hard to solve their own personal problems as they are to solve the endless, mind-bending mysteries that await them. In Wabbit – A Looney Tunes Production, Bugs Bunny is starring in all-new shorts that find the iconic carrot-loving rabbit matching wits against – and getting the best of – classic characters like Yosemite Sam and Wile E. Coyote, along with brand new foes.

  • Turner India expands kids portfolio with Toonami

    Turner India expands kids portfolio with Toonami

    MUMBAI: In order to provide an extra dose of entertainment, Turner International India is expanding its kid’s entertainment portfolio with the launch of a new action-adventure channel – Toonami. 

     

    The channel aims to bring high-octane animated action to kids, superhero fans and their families across the country.

     

    The new channel, which is based on the programming block of the same name on Cartoon Network in the US, is a 24-hour English action and anime destination designed for viewers seeking a full tilt, rollercoaster ride of adventure, quips, drama and a whole lot more. 

     

    The channel has a significant presence in Asia Pacific across 14 countries including Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Sri Lanka amongst others.

     

    In India, Toonami complements Turner’s kids’ entertainment portfolio of Cartoon Network and Pogo.

     

    Turner International India managing director, South Asia Siddharth Jain believes that it will meet the growing demand for premium quality action-adventure and superhero content. 

     

    “It is a real proud moment for Turner to bring in a channel like Toonami to our young Indian audiences – we now offer a robust entertainment experience for all ages and interests,” he said.

     

    The channel will feature superhero franchises such as Batman, Superman, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Justice League, Inazuma Eleven Go, Dragon Ball Z and many more.

     

    Toonami is being distributed by Taj Television and is available on digital cable platforms like Siticable, Indusind Media (Incable), ICNCL, Home Cable and JPR Cable Network across Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore.