MUMBAI: It?s been a year of new launches in the kids TV genre with preschool emerging as the sought?after segment. After Discovery Kids, ZeeQ, and Disney Junior, the new kid on the block is Nick Jr., the preschool channel from Viacom18.

Targeted at 2-6 years kids and their moms, Nick Jr. aims to capture the preschool segment, which has Disney Junior as the only other competitor. For the record, Disney Junior was officially launched on 15 October.

Nick Jr. is being positioned as an edutainment channel which will aid in a child?s development through well-researched shows. The central philosophy is to help preschool kids learn while entertaining them at the same time. Hence the tag line: ?The smart place to play?.

It is the seventh channel from Viacom18, the equal joint venture company between Viacom and Network18, and third under the Nickelodeon brand, after Nick and Sonic.

The preschool channel, which went live today, will be available in English and will not carry ads in initial stages. Nick Jr. will be a pay-channel and will only be available on direct-to-home (DTH) and digital cable platforms.

Distributed by IndiaCast, the channel is available on DTH platforms like Videocon d2h and Airtel digital TV. It will soon be launched on Tata Sky.

Nick Jr. is also available on cable TV networks such as Hathway Cable & Datacom, Den, Incablenet, Siti Cable and Digicable in DAS (digital addressable system) markets. Nick Jr. is globally screened across 125 countries in over 25 languages.

?With the launch of Nick Jr., the spectrum of Viacom18 offerings now extends from 2 years to 62 years and beyond - an enviable position in our space,? said Viacom18 Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats, adding that the preschool segment will become a significant one in times to come.

Curiously though, Nick Jr. will have two slots: Nick Jr. which will run from 6 am to 7 pm; and Teen Nick post that, addressing a totally different target segment. All the shows on Nick Jr. are from Viacom?s international shows.

Nick Jr. will have animated shows while Teen Nick will offer live action and will be targeted at teenagers.

The Nick Jr. slot will have shows like Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go, Team Umizoomi, Bubble-Guppies and Blues Clues. Teen Nick, on the other hand, will have shows like Unfabulous, The Troop, True Jackson, Victorious, Drake and Josh.

Explaining the rationale behind having two slots, Viacom18 EVP & Business Head ? Kids Cluster Nina Elavia Jaipuria said, ?We believe that towards the evening this channel will get switched off as most toddlers and their mothers are winding down for the day.?

She added, ?So it?s a good idea to use a frequency that will get switched-off and wanting to keep them switched on. We also believe that in one television household the younger siblings go away (post 7 pm) and older siblings will take care of the remote.?

Jaipuria said that there was a clear gap in the market for a preschool channel which was evident from the research reports. ?Every parent would want to do what is best for the child to learn and develop faster than the rest. There was a clear need gap for this kind of an offering. Nick Jr. will complement the hard core education in schools. Every show that we have has a particular skill attached to it. Team Umizoomi, for instance, is about maths,? she explained.

Digitisation, she said, was the main reason that encouraged the television network to launch Nick Jr. as it is expected to correct the anomalies that ail the broadcasting business.

?We are all riding the digital wave which will help us in reducing carriage costs and realising subscription revenue that we deserve. It will also help us to reach out to more people and do more segmentation.?

Genre and revenue expansion

Jaipuria believes the kids TV genre will expand with these new channel launches and segmentation of the market. "The kids genre currently has an eight per cent audience share. This is set to expand," she said.

Kids channels together rake in advertising revenue of Rs 2.5-3 billion a year. "The ad revenue for the genre is growing at 10-14 per cent," Jaipuria said.

Focus on consumer products

Bringing to life Nick Jr.?s iconic characters and shows, Viacom18 plans to launch a comprehensive range of consumer products at retail stores across categories, to build engagement with kids outside television.

Talking about the consumer products? plan, Viacom18 SVP, Consumer Products Sandeep Dahiya said, ?Given the line-up of iconic characters on Nick Jr., we?re ready to give wings to kids? imagination through a product range that?s comprehensive as well as interactive.?

"The Nick Jr. franchise will open up our consumer products business. We will have a lot of global brands who will naturally come in to associate with the Nick Jr. franchise in India," says Dahiya.

Nick Jr. will also have strong online presence including the official website which will aim at providing useful tips and information on a growing child?s need from experts. The website will also have interesting games for toddlers that will be on the same lines as the channel ? entertaining and educational.

MUMBAI: Discovery Kids, the kids channel from Discovery Communications, has launched its first local production, Mystery Hunters India, as part of its localisation strategy for the channel.

Mystery Hunters India is a series that demystifies the intriguing myths of India and will be hosted by 16-year-old Apoorva Arora and Himanshu Sharma, who is presently studying in grade VII.

The series, which will air every day at 6 pm from 22 December, will explain the intriguing myths of India which are still hidden and inexplicable. The show is being produced by BBC which also owns the format of the show.

For this series, Apoorva and Himanshu travel the length and breadth of India to explore the places and delve into the tales which have bewildered people for ages - combining the thick jungles of Kerala to reveal red rain, unearthing the truth behind the mysterious Naga people of the underground to trekking down to the third largest crater lake in the world.

Assisting Mystery Hunters is Doubting Dev (famous standup comedian), the resident skeptical scientist back at the Mystery India Lab. He uses his own brand of humour to conduct fun experiments and uncover the truth.

"In India there are lots of mysteries and kids are very curious to know more about various facts in the country. So we got these two kids Himanshu and Apoorva who are hosting the show. It?s come out very well," Discovery South Asia senior VP, GM Rahul Johri said.

Johri said that Discovery Kids has balance of animation content as well as live action. Discovery Kids, he said, is being positioned as a channel that satisfies the curiosity of kids. "Indian kids want to be entertained but what we hope to provide them is variety and more than just cartoons. That is what we are trying to do with the channel in multiple genres."

Discovery Kids? programming formats include animation and live action series under multiple genres such as adventure, mythology, nature, history and science. The channel?s programming slate features programmes such as Papyrus, Sally Bollywood, Howzatt, The Legend of Enyo and Wild Kratts.

The channel has slowly expanded its distribution footprint and is available on most cable and DTH platforms. It is available on Tata Sky, Airtel digital TV, Reliance Big TV, Videocon d2h, and Dish TV.

"We are available on five of the six DTH platforms. We are available across the country and we have pretty robust distribution. We have been working on the distribution for the last six months and today we are visible across platforms," he asserted.

When queried about the markets that the channel is focussing on, Johri said: "We are growing on a pan-India basis and there is no individual market that we are targeting."

Discovery Kids is available in three languages ? English, Hindi, and Tamil. The target audience is four to 12 years old and their parents with the core target audience being kids seven to 10 years old.

MUMBAI: FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), the brand extension arm of FremantleMedia, has announced its first international sale of the Australian TV wildlife game show Bindi‘s Bootcamp, to the Asian feeds of children‘s entertainment and education channel Discovery Kids.

Produced by FremantleMedia Australia in association with Sydney-based Sticky Pictures, under commission from Australian national broadcaster ABC, the series made its debut in July this year on ABC3, and became an instant hit with young Aussie viewers.

Hosted by Bindi Irwin and filmed at Australia Zoo in Queensland, Bindi‘s Bootcamp offers young adventurers the chance to experience close-up wildlife encounters, endure physical and mental challenges, and have lots of messy fun along the way. The contestants start as animal lovers and, if they have what it takes to pass Bindi‘s challenges, leave as ‘Wildlife Warriors‘.

Bindi‘s Bootcamp was the first new property to come from FME‘s partnership with Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin, and Australia Zoo. The partnership sees FME handle all brand licensing and distribution rights to Bindi‘s Bootcamp.

Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific VP Programming Charmaine Kwan said, "Discovery has a long-standing relationship with the Irwin family. We are extremely pleased to have Bindi back on Discovery Kids, our new channel which ignites the natural curiosity of kids through programmes that explore adventure, nature, science, wildlife, history and technology."

FME Asia Pacific CEO Jon Penn said: "We have been thrilled with the quality of this uniquely Australian format and its engaging and talented young star Bindi Irwin, not to mention its ratings success on ABC3.

"This new deal with Discovery Kids in Asia shows that there is strong demand in markets outside Australia for original live-action kids‘ entertainment, and that Bindi‘s Bootcamp is a unique and exciting Australian leader in this genre."

MUMBAI: Much of the ills that the kids channels faced in the last couple of years continued to prevail in the first half of 2012: revenue pressure, distribution bottlenecks, audience fragmentation, fierce competition, increase in costs and low advertising rates.

And yet the genre is attracting new channel launches. Viacom18 launched a channel dedicated to action to complement Nick and add to its bouquet strength, similar to Turner‘s two-channel pack and one behind Disney‘s. Later this month, Discovery Kids is going to make its appearance in India.

So what is exciting kids networks? The sheer demographics with 30 per cent of India‘s 1.2 billion population living in this age group, impending digitisation and 10 per cent yearly growth in viewership.

The ad market for the genre, though a meagre Rs 2.5 billion, has the potential to grow faster. The industry expects it to grow 10 per cent year-on-year with non-traditional advertisers like automobiles, consumer electronics, and mobile devices consciously targeting the genre.

Kids TV broadcasters are working on their content front to take away share from competition. The magic duplication of global franchises is not enough. Building strong, multi-dimensional characters is the most important element to attract kids across the globe.

Agrees Turner International India South Asia GM Entertainment Networks Monica Tata, "Whether it is animation or live action, kids need to be able to relate to characters irrespective of geographical, social and cultural diversity," she says.

Faced with the uphill task of satiating the entertainment needs of kids, broadcasters are increasingly experimenting with content. There has been a swift move from comedy to action-oriented shows. The logic of launching Sonic is to primarily tap this market.

The action genre has dedicated offerings from Pogo, Sonic and Disney XD. Local productions including live action and animation continue to rule the roost as far as ratings are concerned.

The Chotta Bheem franchise continues to be the tentpole property of Pogo, besides generating revenues at the box office for its producer, Hyderabad-based Green Gold Animation.

Nick has also placed its bet on Shaktimaan, the animated series produced by Reliance Animation, with the hope to tap into the legacy of the Indian superhero and attract the action-loving generation. The show will also air on Sonic, which is growing its reach steadily.

?Local content is substantially drawing kid‘s viewership, whether it?s live action or animation. All players in the category now have well established local shows on their grids. Action is slowly creeping into the comedy space that so far dominated the category,? says Viacom18 EVP and GM Sonic and Nickelodeon India Nina Elavia Jaipuria.

Disney is experimenting with local live action shows like Suite Life of Karan and Kabir and Best of Luck Nikki. The two shows contribute about 15-19 per cent of total programming hours on Disney Channel.

?Live action is a genre that is driving significant viewership and is increasingly becoming popular among kids and families,? avers Disney UTV executive director and Disney kids network business head Vijay Subramaniam.

Disney XD has taken the television rights of new animation series Mysteries & Feluda produced by Hyderabad-based DQ Entertainment. Feluda is a series of novels and short stories written by famous Indian director and author Satyajit Ray.

?We have several local animation shows that enliven the rich Indian storytelling heritage while remaining entertaining and relevant to today?s viewers, such as the famous Indian detective series ? Feluda by master storyteller Satyajit Ray, the story of twins ? Luv Kush, Suryaputra, The Adventures of King Vikram and Little Pandavas,? Subramaniam adds.

While the hunt is on for sourcing more local shows, kids channels need to just find a couple of flagship shows. Says Jaipuria, ?Most category players are led by one or two shows. The channel ratings are garnered by these shows spread across various slots through the day.?

Agrees Tata, "An interesting trend noticed is that kids prefer to tune in to fewer shows on kids channels than ever before. But their time spent per show is increasing, thereby ensuring that the viewership remains positive.?

Will the launch of Discovery Kids create further fragmentation in an already crowded space?

Jaipuria does not think so. ?The Sonic launch fueled the category‘s growth. Discovery Kids could aid in growing it further. Since its offerings could be unique, this will only lead to minimised fragmentation.?

The Summer Window

The January-June period was a significant window and a hectic one for kids channels as the summer vacation falls during this period, the only time of the year when kids have long, uninterrupted access to television. The channels across the board pulled out all stops to come out with top notch programming to grab maximum eyeballs.

Despite the fact that cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) also falls during the summer vacations, the kids broadcasters did not see much of an impact on their viewership. The genre viewership during the first the half of the year, in fact, has improved from 18 per cent to 20 per cent over last year, asserts Tata.

Source : TAM Media Research
Market : All India
TG : CS 4-14 yrs
Period : Yr 2011 to 2012 (Till Week 21 ‘12)

As part of its summer line-up, Disney Channel saw the launch of live action series The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir, an Indian adaptation of the American show, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. It also aired the second season of Best of Luck Nikki, another live action series which is an adaptation of the American show Good Luck Charlie.

Nick introduced classic American animated series Dennis the Menace during the evening band. The DIC Entertainment produced series will have a 52-episode run.

The show strengthened Nick?s evening band, particularly since it had lost a key property Oggy and the Cockroaches to Cartoon Network India. The switch happened as a result of an exclusive co-production agreement between Cartoon Network Asia Pacific and French animation studio Xilam.

Sonic entered into a deal with Saban Brands to air its adventure series Power Rangers Samurai and Power Rangers Super Samurai for two seasons in a deal stitched by Los Angeles-based producer-distributor MarVista Entertainment.

Cartoon Network launched a humorous show, Horrid Henry, in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, apart from building on its Ben 10 franchise by building ‘Ben 10: Ultimate Alien?.

Pogo ramped up its content offering by launching animated comedy series Mojacko. The channel introduced new seasons of its key franchise Chotta Bheem in addition to a new movie, Chotta Bheem and the Curse of Damayaan that collected Rs 20.5 million in the first five days of its theatrical release.

Marketing thrust

The first half of the year also witnessed a host of marketing activities that was directed at engaging kids. Nick brought the Power Rangers to India by conducting ?The Power Ranger Tour?, aimed at increasing the fan following of the iconic characters in the country.

The Power Rangers Samurai initiative was supported with a 360-degree marketing campaign which included the Power Ranger?s on-ground tour, van activations covering 15 key cities, print ads, radio and cross promotion across various television channels.

Similarly, Disney Channel had launched the Jet Set Go on-air contest in association with Jet Airways which gave kids and their families an opportunity to win an all-expenses paid trip to Hong Kong Disneyland. The campaign, which was driven completely on the kids network channels of Disney, generated six million entries from across India and culminated with the unveiling of Disney-themed aircraft.

?The success of our recent campaign ?Jet Set Go? is a witness to the fact that unique and innovative engagement which resonate wonderfully well with the viewers. While the kid is definitely the hero, these innovative campaigns involve and engage with their entire family,? avers Subramaniam.

Push to grow L&M

There was major thrust on Licensing & Merchandising too as all the major channels launched Back-to-School product range featuring popular characters be it Dora, Ben 10 or Winnie The Pooh.

However, the deal that grabbed the maximum attention was the one signed by Disney Consumer Products India, the licensing & merchandising arm of The Walt Disney Company India, with IPL team Mumbai Indians to launch Mickey Cricket Merchandise which includes apparel and accessories, footwear, stationary, home and toys, all featuring Disney?s Fab Five in fun cricketing attire.

Disney Consumer Products India has also done its first licensing deal in the real estate sector with Mumbai-based real estate company Sunteck Realty to launch Disney Inspired Homes in Mumbai. The project is expected to generate a turnover of Rs 100 billion to the company.

Nick was also not far behind with as many as 55 licensing deals already in its kitty which include partnership with Future Group‘s retail chain Big Bazar to launch the Spongebob SquarePants ? Back to School range of products for children. It has also partnered Metro Shoes to launch Dora co-branded footwear in addition to a deal with TI Cycles to launch co-branded cycles.

Cartoon Network Enterprises, the consumer products division of Turner, partnered Attano Media & Education to launch video-ebooks and interactive activity books.

However, the L&M is still a very nascent business for kids channels in India who see it as a long-term play that will evolve over a period of time. L&M contributes only 5-7 per cent of total revenues for most channels.

With the first half of the year over, kids networks are eagerly awaiting the rollout of digitisation in the first four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai from 1 November. "Long under pressure and a weakening business model, digitisation could be a game-changer for a genre that has been struggling to grow in the last few years," says a media analyst.