MUMBAI: Kids Choice Awards is back to draw Indian kids in a ‘slime’ fest! Viacom18’s flagship property that debuted in India in 2013 is being brought back by Nickelodeon, to celebrate those who entertained the kids the most.

Typically the awards in the media and entertainment world are tailor-made for adults, in terms of content as well as the personalities who adorn it. Being a leader in the genre, Nick decided to tailor-make an award show for kids that truly values their opinion.

With a total of 13 categories to vote for, some of the key awards categories include Best Movie Actor (Male and Female), Best Bollywood Movie, Best Television Show and Best Indian Cartoon Character. After two weeks of online voting through the Nickelodeon website, kids have chosen their favourite, that will be revealed in the gala event  on 5 December 2016 at Reliance Studios, Film City, Mumbai.

“Now that the voting has ended, we will count the votes and a special team of auditors will monitor it, following which we will make the final winner announcements at the ground event,” Viacom18 business head kids cluster Nina Elavia Jaipuria shared as the countdown for the awards began.

A televised version will also go on air -- first on Nickelodeon around Christmas next month -- followed by other sister channels under Viacom18 to expand its visibility. “We will air KCA on Colors, Rishtey, Colors Marathi, Colors Gujarati, Colors Bangla and, of course, on VOOT as well. We envision Kids Choice Awards as an inclusive show for the whole family and, therefore, having it on GECs will optimise it as a larger property with a greater reach."

That definitely spells well with the channel’s advertisers, who, according to Jaipuria, find the property very promising. “When we started KCA in 2013, we weren’t in the leadership position. This year, we are in the lead, having topped the genre for the 57th week since BARC started releasing its data. Naturally, our advertisers and sponsors are also a lot more confident in the property,” Jaipuria shared.

Dabur Red Paste has come on board as the presenting sponsor for the kids show, along with Lifebuoy and Choki Choki by Inbisco India, and Funskool (MRF Group) as the associate sponsor.

“Further strengthening our resolve to improve oral health in the country and to reach out to

more kids, Dabur Red Paste has joined hands with Nickelodeon and KCA to further spread the message about dental hygiene and educate children about best oral care practices through a focussed and specially crafted campaign,” said Dabur India marketing head - oral care Harkawal Singh, on the brand’s association with Kids Choice Awards.

Given the excitement surrounding the second edition of KCA in India, Jaipuria is expecting the spot rates for KCA to be double than that of the channel’s normal rates. “KCA is an expensive property for us. We are doing ti because we strongly believe that we are the leaders in kids entertainment in the country. We are putting our money where  our mouth is, and we deserve to get it monetised," Jaipuria said.

Jaipuria observed that kids also enjoy a lot of content mostly aimed at adults, be it movies, or TV shows with fantasy in it. Does that fragment the viewership of kids genre and in turn impact advertising? “While fragmentation of viewers is there, as kids also watch GECs and movie channels, they ultimately are loyal to content tailor-made for them. They might be watching GECs but they are a passive audience there, and hence brands that are truly interested to communicate to kids must come to kids channels. The fact that our ad sales pie is growing at a 11--12 per cent and we are estimated to close the year at Rs 500 crore speaks volumes. Nick grown our top line ad rates by 30 per cent y-o-y since last October; and that of Sonic by about 50 per cent, ” she added.

In order to build momentum up to the awards, the channel has been promoting the property heavily across its channels in the kids cluster.

“Apart from tying to the festive mood of Christmas, airing the show sometime mid-December also gives us enough time to promote it. The initial phase of it was the announcement of the show and calling in the voters in October, and it will end with a bang in December,”Jaipuria said, adding that the network has aired around 3000-odd promos of KCA in the past few weeks.

Apart from on-air promotions, the network plans to engage the kids on ground with several partnerships, including McDonalds. Van activation across 30 cities will target tier II and tier III audience, and print advertising is also part of the marketing mix.

Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards INDIA : Categories & Nominations