ITV

Tag: Uttam Pal Singh

  • OTT has been favourable for animated content

    OTT has been favourable for animated content

    MUMBAI: Much of the Indian TV market is ruled in one way – the broadcasters keep IP rights for the shows and not the production houses. The scenario is the same whether it’s Hindi GEC or kids or lifestyle. Indiantelevision.com’s The Content Hub hosted a panel discussion ‘Animation Producers: Getting Animated’ with panellists Discovery Kids head Uttam Pal Singh, Golden Robot Animation head of business development RK Chand, Paper Boat Animation chairman, creative director Soumitra Ranade and Biscopewala managing partner Nishith Takia. The session was moderated by Kinsane Entertainment CMO Pranab Punj.

    Emphasising the retention of IP rights, Ranade said, “IP creation is a big thing and for this socio-political aspects are to be kept in mind as to what kids are watching now and five years later. But for this, we need to create relevant stories. It’s not going to work if we make B grade version of Disney or Pixar.”

    Singh said that Discovery Kids is making relatable shows for the Indian market and targeting global reach with OTTs. The idea behind making Little Singham was to create an IP and make it a brand.

    While speaking of the emergence of OTT platforms, Singh was of the opinion that he has not seen significant investment from the OTT players to create IPs which come to the OTT platform first and then on linear television. He added, “While OTT is growing and most of the English TV genres have been affected immensely in terms of audiences, the kids' genre, on the other hand, has grown on Indian television. It has grown to 8 per cent as per BARC report and we still see that a broadcaster has maximum reach as opposed to OTT platforms.”

    Moreover, Chand said that OTT platforms have given them the scope to explore new ideas and stories. He said, “The entire catalogue of Chhota Bheem was the first kids content on Amazon. OTT gives us a range of audience that isn’t restricted to TV. Netflix and Amazon have enabled us to innovate stories and characters.”

    Takia revealed that his company is talking to OTT platforms in a bid to make content for them. He added that budgets restrict the quality of animation. “We feel that very few people understand the aesthetic behind the project. Budgets also restrict the quality of animation. If you want to create high-quality content, you need high budgets,” he said.

  • Discovery Kids aims 35% reach with English audio feed

    Discovery Kids aims 35% reach with English audio feed

    MUMBAI: The kids channels have finally woken up to the importance of animation in regional languages.  

    Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam are the existing languages that are working quite well in the overall industry as well as in the kids segment. Keeping in mind the parents’ concerns for their kids to learn and grow, the broadcasters thought of launching English feeds as well. Recently, Sony Yay made its footprint in the English space and now, Discovery Kids has also added this feed in its bouquet.

    Discovery Kids was launched in 2012 and has already Tamil, Telugu and Hindi audio feeds that helped the channel to leap-frog to fourth rank in the existing cluttered market from ninth rank in the beginning of the year riding on 426 per cent growth in TV ratings. Discovery Kids head Uttam Pal Singh said, “Our channel’s reach has doubled from 9 million in week 1 to 18 million in this week (33) as per the BARC data.    

    He said that since the regional languages are important in the industry, Discovery launched those before entering the English segment. “For Discovery Kids it’s almost like a clean slate when we started it out with the launch of Bandhbuk aur Budbak and Little Singham. So first was definitely getting Tamil on board and as and when we added these regional languages, we got good response,” he said.

    The next step is to get maximum reach in the SAARC countries. “The addition of Telugu feed in April earlier this year helped increase our reach by over 50 per cent in the state of Andhra Pradesh/Telangana. We expect that the English feed will help us penetrate deeper in select pockets in India as well as SAARC countries,” he added.

    The mobile game of Little Singham hit the No. 1 spot in the Arcade section by garnering 3 million downloads within the first two weeks of its launch.

    The network claims to have a daily time spent of 82 minutes on the channel and has observed a significant hike in the ratings due to its programming on the occasions of Friendship Day and 15 August. “We released special content on Desh ka Sipahi Little Singham and focused on Bandhbuk and Budbak on Friendship Day. We gained 9 GRPs in the last week and now as far as the channel’s reach is concerned, we want to reach about 30-35 per cent.”

    As per the BARC data’s week 33, Nickelodeon stands at the first position with 135622 impressions (000s) sum. Disney Channel, Hungama, Discovery Kids and Pogo TV stood at second, third, fourth and fifth positions respectively with 125920 impressions (000s) sum, 110826 impressions (000s) sum, 81728 impressions (000s) sum and 78145 impressions (000s) sum.  

  • Discovery Kids begins Tamil, Telugu feeds

    Discovery Kids begins Tamil, Telugu feeds

    MUMBAI: Discovery Kids has announced that it is targeting to expand its reach in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with the launch of Tamil and Telugu language feeds. The Tamil feed has already been introduced starting 24 March while the Telugu language feed will be launched from 1 April.

    The launch of these new feeds will help Discovery Kids in further consolidating its position in the kids’ genre. Discovery Kids, after the launch of Bandbudh aur Budbak in February 2018, has created a stir in the kids’ genre by garnering close to 200 per cent increase in TV ratings, 160 per cent + increment in TSV (time spent per viewer) and more than 30 per cent increase in reach.

    Discovery Kids, Discovery Communications India head Uttam Singh said, “The launch of Tamil and Telugu language feeds will provide a huge fillip to our efforts in increasing the reach of Discovery Kids in the strategically important markets. The love and affection that Discovery Kids is getting are truly humbling. We are further intensifying our efforts to reach the top of the kids’ genre.”

    The channel will also mark April fool’s day, 1 April, as the birthday of Bandbudh Aur Budbak. The channel will launch new episodes of the show so that kids can have a blast with their favorite characters after the end of their examination period.

    Also Read :

    Catch the Superr Heropanti of bandbudh aur budbak only on Discovery Kids

    Discovery Kids announces second series of ‘Sheikh Chilli and Friendz’

  • Catch the Superr Heropanti of bandbudh aur budbak only on Discovery Kids

    Catch the Superr Heropanti of bandbudh aur budbak only on Discovery Kids

    MUMBAI: Discovery Kids, the leading animation channel from Discovery Communications India, has launched its new series Bandbudh aur Budbak from 12th February. The show follows the fun school life adventures of two best friends, Badrinath and Buddhadeb who often land in trouble because of their antics but luck always seem to be on their side and they manage to escape scot-free.

    Speaking on the occasion, Discovery Communications India, Head – Discovery Kids, Uttam Pal Singh said, “Everyone loves a naughty kid. Our endeavor is to become the home to naughtiest superheroes who will charm the kids across the country with their Supperr Heropanti! The launch of Bandbudh aur Budbak is a crucial first step in this direction; the introduction of Little Singham will complete the revamp of Discovery Kids later this year.”

    Discovery Kids will showcase 156 episodes of Bandbudh aur Budback. The channel recently announced that it has commissioned Reliance Animation to produce a new disruptive original Indian animation series ‘Little Singham’, inspired by ‘Singham’, India’s most successful supercop brand and one of the biggest Bollywood blockbusters of all time. Targeted at kids in the age-group 5-11 years old, ‘Little Singham’ will make its debut on TV in April 2018 on the completely revamped Discovery Kids channel. Little Singham, India’s youngest supercop, will have the intro line – ‘Police ki wardi, Sher ka Damm, Naam hai mera – Little Singham!’

     Catch all the naughtiness and fun with Bandbudh and Budbak only on Discovery Kids from 12th February 2018 onwards.

  • Angry Birds sing the Blues on Discovery Kids

    Angry Birds sing the Blues on Discovery Kids

    MUMBAI: Discovery Kids is all set to roll out its new series featuring kids’ beloved birds in the Indian television premiere of Angry Birds Blues. The series will air from Monday to Friday at 6 pm with a repeat at 12 noon as part of continued festivities for kids.

    Discovery Kids head Uttam Pal Singh said, “This festive season, we bring kids favourite series to Discovery Kids – Angry Birds Blues. It is our endeavour to bring to our young audience best-in-class entertainment and engagement with their favourite characters.”

    The series features new birds and their hilarious escapades. Meet the Blues Jake, Jay and Jim – rambunctious bluebird triplets with big ideas that wildly succeed or hilariously fail. But no matter what happens, this fun feathered trio always bounces back except when the Hatchlings show up. Unfazed, the brothers simply shake their smouldering tail feathers and try again. Whether it’s building a clubhouse ordered from the Mighty Eagle Express, or getting a kite to fly, the Blues’ crazy antics become unbelievable comic disasters you can’t resist.