MUMBAI: Pogo will treat kids to best Chhota Bheem movies aired in the past year and an on-air contest called ?Dhishum Diwali? every day between 12-16 November, 12 pm onwards.

Chhota Bheem will enthrall kids with 5 of his best movies:

Chhota Bheem aur Hanuman, Chhota Bheem: Dholakpur to Kathmandu, Chhota Bheem & the Curse of Damyaan, Chhota Bheem: Master of Shaolin and Chhota Bheem: Mayanagri.

These movies will be showcased on Pogo from Monday to Friday at 12 pm. The ?Dhishum Diwali? contest will give kids a chance to gather some more gifts this festive season. PS3s, iPod Nanos, Mobile Phones and exclusive Chhota Bheem gift hampers are some of the gifts up for grabs.

To participate, kids need to tune-in to these movies and send their answers to the movie-based questions by SMS. Kids can also participate in the contest by logging on to Pogo website.

Turner International India General Manager, Entertainment Networks South Asia Monica Tata said, "Diwali brings the entire family together in joyous festivities. Through the on-air content line-up and contest based on Chhota Bheem, we hope to add excitement, friendship, humour and quality entertainment for the entire family to enjoy during Diwali."

MUMBAI: Pogo is planning to take its engagement with kids to the next level with three new movies. For the first time ever, Pogo will premiere its first originally produced, animated television movie - Chhota Chintu Bada Phenku on 4 November at 12 pm.

It will also premiere its first live-action, television movie - ?Bhootraja Aur Ronnie? towards November end, followed by Chatpat Jhatpat in mid December.

The concept of Chhota Chintu Bada Phenku has been developed by Pogo and is animated by Green Gold Animation Studios. The story is about a 9-year-old boy and the extent to which he will go to make himself sound cool by avoiding his homework, escaping his mother?s wrath and creating a loveable impression amongst peers. The humour and twist in the tale begins when all his tall tales start to come true. Now Chintu must come clean and find a way to make his wrongs right.

?Bhootraja Aur Ronnie?, premiering towards November-end, is Pogo?s first live-action TV feature conceptualised in-house and co-produced by Fireworks, production house of the successful live-action series CID. The movie revolves around the friendship between Ronnie, an 8-year-old boy and Raja, a friendly ghost.

On one hand Raja helps Ronnie overcome school bullies and on the other hand, Ronnie helps Raja to solve the mystery of his death. It is a story of friendship, bravery and justice.

Chatpat Jhatpat is a story about an optimistic, naughty, confident and brazen boy - Chatpat and his doppelganger but diametrically different meek and innocent friend - Jhatpat. This second live-action original production of Pogo is created by Sphere Origins, makers of Balika Vadhu, and premieres in mid December.

Turner International India South Asia GM Entertainment Networks Monica Tata said, ?By venturing into originally produced television features, we want to take a leap further into providing local content that resonates with Indian kids. The animation feature and the two live-action features have been conceptualised with sentiments of friendship, courage, loyalty, honestly and, above all, humour! It is going to be a visual delight for kids and families across India.?

MUMBAI: Cartoon Network is gearing up for the launch of its global original animated series ?The Amazing World of Gumball? in India on 4 November.

The series will air every Sunday at 4 pm.

According to the kid?s broadcaster, this technically ambitious production fuses 2D and 3D animation with live-action, laying the foundation for a new era of animated cartoon format.

The Amazing World of Gumball takes viewers through a story of an ordinary family ? The Wattersons, who live in the extraordinary town of Elmore, and face challenges with their 12 year old son Gumball (a blue cat) and his bosom pal Darwin who spell misadventures for all. Gumball?s dad is a pink rabbit who stays at home while his mother works in a rainbow factory.

Turner International India South Asia GM Entertainment Networks Monica Tata said, ?Cartoon Network is proud to bring this internationally hit original series which has won the hearts of million kids globally to India. The innovative animation technique bridges the gap between fantasy and reality ? a dream for every kid. The Amazing World of Gumball, a light hearted comic tale reiterates Cartoon Network?s commitment towards providing the best of international and local content.?

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.

MUMBAI: After a run at the box office, ?Chhota Bheem and the Curse of Damyaan? is set to air on Pogo on 24 June at 12 pm.

The new Chhota Bheem movie is based on an evil sorcerer?s aim to take over the world.

Turner International India GM Entertainment Networks, South Asia Monica Tata said, ?Over the years, Chhota Bheem has proved to be a huge success with kids and families. This year our strategy has been to constantly provide kids with new Chhota Bheem content be it new seasons of the show, or new movies on almost a bi-monthly basis or online engagement via pogo.tv. We hope kids will enjoy this movie at home as much they enjoyed it at the theaters.?

The movie has been produced by Green Gold picture which created a niche for itself in the industry by producing Vikram Betal, Krishna series and the hugely popular Chhota Bheem.

MUMBAI: More than two decades after launching with pan-regional CNN and Cartoon Network services and having grown its business to 23 channels and 29 websites in nine languages, Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific (TBSAP) has decided to realign its structure to reflect its considerable business outside Hong Kong.

In order to pursue the network?s ambitious new goals in an
increasingly dynamic and fragmented Asia-Pacific region, TBSAP is to re-balance its resources to make use of the opportunities in North Asia, South Asia and South east Asia/Pacific which will come under a new management structure.

Commented BSAP President and MD Steve Marcopoto, ?The driving principle behind our new set-up is to provide ownership and accountability to each Asia- Pacific sub-region in pursuit of growth. To better align us to meet the challenges and opportunities of these distinct markets in the years ahead, business will be run out of each sub-region with Hong Kong oversight and support.?

Those of whose roles in TBSAP?s executive team have been realigned are:

Sunny Saha, who will assume the post of SVP and MD of Entertainment Networks, TBSAP. He will take on the additional responsibilities on strategic planning across the company, even while continuing to oversee the functions in Hong Kong that support TBSAP?s new sub-regional operations. He will also directly manage the company?s entertainment networks in Southeast Asia/Pacific, with the support of Robi Stanton who will assume the role of GM, Networks Australia and New Zealand. Saha will remain as TBSAP?s lead executive for all activities on global properties such as Cartoon Network.

Anshuman Misra, who has been upgraded to the post of SVP and MD of Networks and Content Distribution (NCD) Asia-Pacific, will take on full responsibility for Turner?s content sales business across the region. He will also assume responsibility for syndication sales.

The North Asia region would be managed by Yew Ming Lau who will assume the new role of SVP & MD, North Asia.

Siddharth Jain will assume management of South Asia as SVP and MD while Monica Tata, who has been made VP and GM Networks, will now manage all of Turner?s India networks with the assistance of dedicated business heads reporting to her.

In light of the increasing priority of CNN International News Source, Ringo Chan will lay focus on this pursuit as SVP, CNN Broadcast Sales & Affiliate Relations besides maintaining his responsibilities for NCD in Greater China as well as the important liaison work he conducts for TBSAP with the PRC.

While Jeremy Carr will assume additional responsibility for growing TBSAP?s digital entertainment properties as VP Entertainment, Digital & Adsales, Phil Nelson will assume full regional responsibility for Business Development as VP of Business Development, Asia Pacific.

These new operating arrangements will take effect immediately.