Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Dec 29, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Dec 29, 2004 |
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Entertainment & Leisure Marketing - Strategy Kids' channels vying to capture audience — `Focus on localisation of content, multi-language feed' Latha Venkatraman
Mumbai , Dec. 28 AT one time, Cartoon Network reigned supreme. But today with seven channels in the children's category, broadcasters are prompted to secure their distinctiveness in a bid to capture audience attention. Most of the kids' channels are looking at a programming mix that would help them to set themselves apart from one another. Hungama TV, from the UTV group, refers to itself as a channel for and by Indian kids. Therefore, the programming is entirely local with an emphasis on live action shows. Says Mr Purnendu Bose, Chief Operating Officer, Hungama TV, "The focus is completely on local multi-genre kids programming conceived and executed keeping Indian kids in mind.'' The programming would include a mix of drama, comedy, science fiction, adventure, game shows and fantasy. Animax, on the other hand, is entirely into animation and the content is from Japan. In India, the main focus of Animax is to introduce the channel and the characters. "The brand has to settle down initially, but our content has a very strong and evolved storyline which can bring in audience," says Mr Rohit Bhandari, Assistant Vice-President - Marketing and Sales, Animax. Indian languages and localisation of content are clearly seen as winning factors for children's channels. While Animax is focusing on showcasing its content before embarking on any other plans, most other channels have been increasing local programming and driving multi-language feed. Cartoon Network the first to arrive in India eight years ago has been steadily increasing not only Hindi feed but also localisation of content. Today it has a full-fledged Hindi feed. Nickelodeon, the second kids' channel, also realised the need for running a Hindi feed and has been increasing the number of Hindi hours. Pogo, also from Turner stable, is also expected to go for a much higher dose of programming in Hindi language to cater to wider audiences. Walt Disney, which has taken its time to make an entry into India, has gone one step further. It has not only embarked on localisation of content from day one but is also making the channels available in many languages. Obviously, India is an important market and Walt Disney has possibly learnt from others' experience that language is critical in such a market. From its selection of two channels now beaming into India, Toon Disney, the animation channel, is available in four languages - English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu - while Disney Channel, the live action and movie channel is in Hindi and English.
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