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Swetha Kannan

Bangalore, June 15 Children’s TV channel Nick is on the hunt for quality local content made by Indian production houses and those with Indian themes.

Currently, most of the channel’s content is foreign produced and has foreign themes. But Nick is open to “world-class Indian productions that are edgy and appeal to all. We are looking at Indian content in the animation category as we go along,” says Ms Kashmira Gandhi, Associate Director – Marketing, Nick India.

On air now is Little Krishna, Nick’s launch this summer. Produced by Big Animation of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, this is an action-based series. It is popular with a peak TV rating of 1.76 (Source: TAM), said Ms Gandhi. In four weeks of launch, the series is among the top four shows on Nick, she added. Over two million children tune in to Little Krishna on a weekly basis.

Interestingly, competitor Cartoon Network has a higher skew towards local content than Nick.

To cater to the Hindi-speaking audiences in metros, mini-metros and small towns, Nick runs a 24-hour Hindi language feed. Only five key shows (Dora The Explorer, Spongebob Squarepants, Drake and Josh, Spellz and Tricky TV) are available in English for the digital TV audience.

Now, Nick plans to come out with a 24-hour feed for the South. The channel, available to some 25 million homes in India, is still working out the specifics such as the language the South feed will be in, said Ms Gandhi.

The channel is keen to increase brand stickiness by engaging in various on-ground activities and striking a chord with the local audience.

It is also looking to focus on retail by launching merchandise based on its characters. Consumer products form a small portion of Nick’s revenue but the channel wants to get into retailing more aggressively.

Nick retails bed linen, dolls, toys and apparel based on its characters such as Dora and Spongebob across large-format stores. It is exploring products based on other shows as well; Little Krishna products are also on the anvil. It is looking at kirana stores to sell its merchandise.

More Stories on : Outlook | Radio/TV | Children & Parenting

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