IT is holiday time for children, but the busiest time of the year for kids’ TV channels, which go all out to churn new and varied content for hot and bored children.
With viewership rising as much as 10-15% during summer, mainly because the intense heat forces children indoors and TV is their best entertainment bet, channels every year come up with a line-up of new shows, games, on-ground activities, movies and so forth.
“We are giving kids an opportunity to turn into stars with their favourite characters Motu Patlu this summer,” says Nina Jaipuria, EVP and business head, kids cluster, Viacom18 (under which come channels like Nick, Sonic and Nick Junior). “Children will have to watch the Motu Patlu episodes in the afternoon and answer a question. The winner will feature in the special episode alongside the comic characters,” she adds. Tying up with the holiday season, Motu Patlu will also travel to Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Vadodara and Nagpur, where children will be able to watch the characters live.
Characters like Motu Patlu, Chhota Bheem, Tenali Raman or Akbar-Birbal are especially popular among Indian children. A latest KPMG entertainment report points out that localisation of content on kids’ channels is increasingly rising, with the average ratio for international to local content at 60:40 currently, compared to 90:10 in 2008.
The kids’ genre also accounted for 7.3% of the viewership share in 2014, making it the largest genre after Hindi GECs and movies, adds the report.
Among the kids’ channels, latest data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), India, shows Nick to be the top kids’ channel in India, followed by Pogo and Disney. Their popularity is driven by the success of their top local shows like Motu Patlu and Chhota Bheem.
Local heroes
The success of Chhota Bheem on Pogo has been a game-changer for kids’ channels, which were always keen on bringing in home-grown content. Says Krishna Desai, executive director and network head, kids, south Asia, Turner International India, which owns Pogo, “In December, we aired the 200th episode of Chhota Bheem, which was a milestone in a journey that began in April 2008. The show has provided a huge boost to Pogo and helped us compete with other channels. Chhota Bheem is the number one property in the country today.”
The success of Chhota Bheem is reflected on the ground as well, with its merchandise competing with Disney products and other merchandise for kids. “We have done several campaigns riding on the success of Chhota Bheem,” says Desai, adding, “When a brand becomes a huge success, it becomes a catalyst for other projects like films, comics and merchandise.” For instance, Pogo recently tied up with the traffic police in Mumbai to create awareness among children about traffic rules using the Chhota Bheem character.
But, points out Desai of Turner, the toughest journey is yet to come. “It’s very difficult to keep things at the same level year after year. It’s tough to predict what kids will like. We are keeping a close eye on kids’ hopes and aspirations, and what kind of storytelling they like,” he says.
Jaipuria of Viacom 18 puts storytelling at the heart of the success of kids’ channels. “At Nickelodeon, we put stories at the centre of kids and their aspirations. With Motu Patlu being such a hit with children, we have set out to realise their dreams through campaigns like animating a kid in a Motu Patlu episode,” she says.
Not to be left behind, Disney has lined up 90 hours of original programming to help kids beat the summer heat. Says Vijay Subramaniam, VP, media networks, content and communications, Disney India, “We have been providing innovative content for years and this year is no different.” The channel is banking on its home-grown local shows like Bunty aur Billy and Hum Chik Bum, besides others. The success of Pokemon has prompted Disney to premiere a film for television, apart from launching a new series in the same genre. “Kids love action, adventure and comedy, and Pokemon and shows like it draw children,” he adds. “So we have launched the action-adventure series Beyblade and the third season of Vir: The Robot Boy,” he says.
TV-to-tablet, mall-to-movie
With kids being the earliest movers in the digital space, kids’ channels are also tapping the digital medium now. “We have to be present in every place kids are, so we tap TV, movies, malls, retail and the digital medium,” says Jaipuria. For instance, if Nick is working on the sixth Motu Patlu movie, Motu Patlu Kungfu King Returns, Turner, too, turned out another Chhota Bheem movie this summer.
Jaipuria says Sonic, the action and adventure channel, has launched a drive called ‘Selfie Kheecho Prizes Jeeto’ to engage with the digital-savvy generation. “Starting this summer, the campaign wants kids to click selfies with a freeze frame of their favourite cartoon characters from Pakdam Pakdai to win exciting prizes every day across platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and Sonicgang.com,” she adds.
Online games are also a big part of the growth strategy of kids’ channels because children spend a lot of time playing games on tablets and mobile phones these days. “We are leaving no stone unturned to tap the digital space,” says Jaipuria.
Discovery Kids launched a new season of its biggest India series, Kisna, with the peaceful young eponymous hero of Anandnagri embarking on new adventures with his friends Radhika, Suddi, Ballu and Toto, as they battle the evil king Durjan and his accomplice Trikaal.
Produced by acclaimed filmmaker Ketan Mehta, the new episodes of Kisna will have the superhero gearing up for fresh challenges to save his hometown. Says Rahul Johri, executive vice-president and general manager, south Asia and south-east Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific: “Discovery Kids’ enduring series, Kisna, has gained immense popularity for its captivating stories and loveable characters. This summer, we present even more exciting and fun escapades of Kisna with his group of friends.”
Like other kids’ channels, Discovery Kids is also bringing alive Kisna and Anandnagri through engaging activities for children in malls and entertainment parks across the country. Activities for kids include dancing to the Kisna song, getting a picture clicked with Kisna and getting a tattoo, says Johri. Discovery Kids will also showcase Desi Dhamaal featuring favourite kids’ characters like Akbar Birbal, Tenali Raman and Sally Bollywood.
Where is the money
If there’s one challenge concerning the kids’ industry other than content, it’s the fact that the channels aren’t getting enough of the advertising pie.
The KPMG report says kids’ channels accounted for only 3.8% of advertisement expenditure, down from 4.2% in 2013. Compare this to Hindi general entertainment channels (27.5%) or regional GECs (15.9%), and the picture is gloomy. On top of that, the number of kids’ channels has increased to 22, making the fight for advertising revenue even more difficult.
However, both Jaipuria and Desai say there is no dearth of advertisers in summer. “We get 25-35% of our revenues in this quarter. We are in a good place.
We have been able to monetise our properties better,” says Jaipuria.
Desai admits, “The underpricing of advertising revenues is a big concern and challenge,” adding, “We have to do bigger integrations with our advertisers. We partner with our advertisers through brand associations, online activities and on-ground events,” For instance, last October, Kellogg’s Chocos mascot Coco entered Pogo’s Chhota Bheem as a character for four episodes.
What’s giving kids’ channels hope is the fact that some of the local content is already doing business overseas, thus adding to revenues. “The happy news is that Motu Patlu is travelling overseas as well,” says Jaipuria. “We have syndicated the show in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Indonesia,” she adds. Jaipuria says Sonic’s Pakdam Pakdai is already showing in Germany, Israel and France. “As our animation industry comes of age, our content is beginning to do well overseas,” she points out.
A busy summer ahead!
We are giving kids a chance to turn into stars with their favourite characters Motu Patlu this summer. Children will have to watch the Motu Patlu episodes in the afternoon and answer a question. The winner will feature in a special episode alongside the characters.
Nina Jaipuria, EVP and business head, kids cluster, Viacom18
Discovery Kids’ enduring series, Kisna, has gained immense popularity for its captivating stories and loveable characters. This summer, we present even more exciting and fun escapades of Kisna with his group of friends.
Rahul Johri, Executive VP & GM, south Asia and south-east Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific
We have done many campaigns riding on the success of Chhota Bheem. When a brand becomes a huge success, it becomes a catalyst for other projects like films, comics and merchandise. We are keeping a close eye on kids’ aspirations and what kind of storytelling they like.
Krishna Desai, Executive director and network head, kids, south Asia, Turner International India
Kids love action, adventure and comedy, and Pokemon and shows like it draw children. So we have launched the action-adventure series Beyblade, the third season of Vir: The Robot Boy and our home-grown local shows like Bunty aur Billy and Hum Chik Bum.
Vijay Subramaniam, VP, media networks, content & communications, Disney India
Sudipta Datta is a freelancer