Enticing kids to their reserved space

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we have watch & win contests on all our three channels—Disney Channel’s Summer Dance, Jetix’s Alibaba & Lots of Chors and Hungama TV’s Pajamagarh Ke Dholay.” The channel is also organising a huge ground event around popular musical show Hannah Montana.

So, if the channels are doing everything to ensure stickiness, why are advertisers not flocking to kids’ channels? According to a Credit Suisse report, while the kids category seems to be experiencing a far lower level of fragmentation than other genres, its key challenge is to expand its current modest 3-4% share of the TV advertising pie.

“We have added a lot of value to advertisers by creating awareness about all our shows,” says Jaipuria. The effort appears to have paid off with “a lot of advertisers coming on board. If we had 17-20 brands advertising on our channel earlier, now 75 brands are on air. For Cartoon Network, which has been in India for 12 years and has managed a leadership position, 30% of its on-air advertising comes from non-traditional sources like mutual funds, banks & tourism. “The advertisers also want to target moms & dads through our channel. With parents watching along with kids, at least 35% of the audience is adult,” says Tata. “There’s huge potential for advertisers on kids’ channels from apparel to life insurance. Incomes are rising, but first kids—and their parents—have to watch the shows,” points out Bhosle.

There has been a lot of debate around what kids are watching on television today. For instance, many parents don’t want their children to watch one of Hungama’s most famous shows Shin Chan, about a 5-year-old who’s too naughty. “Disney sets a lot of parent advocacy,” points out Bhosle. “Also, we tone down the content when we dub in Hindi. And Hungama, which also airs very popular series like Kiteretsu, Kochikame and Doraemon, is really about pure comedy and targeting kids from 4 to 9 years old. Even Shin Chan is naughty but is reprimanded at the end of each episode,” says Bhosle. One of Nick’s USPs is that it’s “an extremely safe channel—there is no violence,” adds Jaipuria.

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