MUMBAI: Two years into the game and kids’ channel Sony Yay has already witnessed twofold growth. Though yet to hit the breakeven status, the channel’s emphasis now is on other business aspects that need immediate attention.

Indiantelevision.com spoke to Sony Pictures Network kids cluster business head Leena Lele Dutta where she mentioned that breaking even in the kids’ segment doesn’t happen at the early stages. The channel's current checklist includes being in the top five of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) kids’ channel list, increase investments from the content standpoint, drive ancillary revenue and get the business to a respectable size.

“Breakeven in the kids’ category doesn’t happen this early. Right now we are looking at increasing our investments from the content standpoint. We are not even thinking about breaking even so soon. My goalpost is actually to see the channel in the top five list in summer and to sustain the ranking throughout the year and drive my ancillary revenue piece,” said Lele.

Sony Yay claimed that last year the channel garnered 28 GRPs and today, it has increased to 48 GRPs. Dutta said that not only has the viewership share doubled but also market share grew from 4 to 8.5 per cent as compared to last year. She also disclosed that last year the channel’s time spent was 70-75 minutes and today it stands at 125 minutes. “Once you grow in terms of channel trajectory and viewership and taking a leadership position in certain markets, the rest of it also follows, whether ad revenue or subscription revenue,” she added.

Dutta also revealed that compared to last year, Sony Yay’s adex and ad rates also grew exponentially. “Last year to this year we have been doubling our adex, in terms of the FCP that is on our channel. The overall kids’ category in adex has increased by 18 per cent,” she added.

Sony Yay commenced its summer season quite early from March and is commanding a premium rate because summer vacation is the peak time for kids to be at home. Hence, there is ample viewing time available for them to enjoy the content. She added that it is also the time to establish ad rates for the rest of the year.

For the summer, it is offering 95 hours of localised content. With a bank of over 300 hours of content, Sony Yay also plans to release over 100 hours of fresh content this year. The channel is banking on 13 new movies to woo kids by giving them a 20 per cent share in FPC. There won’t be any new show launches this year. Instead, it will build on existing characters and shows.

The new TRAI tariff order has also led to big changes in the market. With several consumers complaining of blackouts, how does a kids’ channel deal with it? “DAS happened many years ago and there was a complete switch off. People had to migrate from analogue to digital or else it wouldn’t have been possible to watch TV at home. So it is an industry aberration and we have adjusted ourselves to it,” she said.

Dutta is also aware of the growth that’s happening in the OTT space and she feels people will soon pay for premium kids’ content there. She said, “Whether it is pure-play education or it is infotainment or entertainment, the digital space is going to grow along with television. TV will have its own organic growth but what’s going to lead the growth is going to be digital.”  She further added that these digital platforms will be complementing its business.

Sony Yay is looking at gender-agnostic shows after some facts it found. Dutta said that as per research and BARC ratings, the consumption is skewed more towards boys and less towards girls. “There is 65 per cent of consumption from boys. Girls watch general entertainment shows in the afternoon with their mother. Another thing is that while girls don’t mind watching boy’s shows, boys will not like to watch shows that girls prefer such as Barbie or Frozen. And that’s a reason to go into gender agnostic shows, so Honey Bunny is a gender-agnostic show,” she concluded.