For Aparna Bhosle, director, programming & production, Walt Disney Television International (India), a big hurdle in running a kids? channel in India is that 80% kids are still watching general entertainment channels. ?The potential is huge,? says Bhosle, ?but I am extremely unhappy that six kids? channels are fighting for the eyeballs of 20% kids.? So, each channel is trying every trick in the bag?from on-air programmes to on-ground contests, different genres, 360 degrees of marketing initiatives?to ensure children stick to kids? channels.

Each of the channels?Disney, Hungama, Jetix, Cartoon Network, Pogo & Nick?concentrating on content & packaging and then backing them up with distribution & marketing measures to entice, surely, the most difficult set of viewers: restless kids.

?We are the best destination for comedy,? insists Nina Elavia Jaipuria, GM & VP, Nick. ?Kids looking for masti, dhamal and excitement come to us,? she adds. ?What?s more, we are not biased towards any gender; our appeal cuts across the 4-14 age group.? With shows like Dora the Explorer, Ninja Hattori, Sponge Bob and Perman, Nick has done incredibly well last year, as TV ratings show, to make a mark in the kids? channels space.

For kids? channels, summer is crucial because there?s more than a month of holidays and viewership is the highest. So, all the channels have launched special summer shows, including unique contests and movies. ?Kids are very discerning and you need to think faster than them,? admits Monica Tata, VP, advertising sales & networks, Turner International, India & South Asia, which has two channels Cartoon Network and Pogo. ?Over the last two years, we have researched deeply into what kids want and tried to deliver. If Cartoon Network?s world of animation has become more contemporary and edgier, Pogo is warm, friendly & safe. We have also introduced a lot of local content. When we aired Krishna, the 2.5 TV rating was the biggest hit on kids? TV. Now, we are screening Chota Bheem.?

Tata points out that once a character sticks to a child?s mind, ?we try to leverage it on other platforms.? A case in point can be Ben 10, which is a raging hit with children. Ask any child between 4 and 14 about Ben 10 and she/he will fill you in.

A Cartoon Network original, Ben 10 follows the adventures of 10-year-old Ben, who discovers a strange object that looks like a watch inside a crash meteorite. Ben soon discovers that the ?watch? can help him transform into 10 different aliens?but the spell lasts only for 10 minutes at a time. The endearing little boy uses his new powers to right wrongs and fight evil, and one adventure after another follows. One of Cartoon Network?s most popular characters, ever since he was introduced in 2007, the channel is now leveraging Ben?s pull across all platforms. So, you now have Ben 10 talking to Amitabh Bachchan to promote the BR Chopra film Bhootnath where AB plays a friendly ghost.

?Once you have the product, you take it across platforms from apparels, contests, tie-ups with other brands and so forth,? says Tata.

According to a Credit Suisse report, the kids? genre is dominated by foreign players, after Disney?s purchase of the Hungama Channel from UTV. Turner Networks (Cartoon Network and Pogo) was the incumbent in the market, and now has a share of market similar to Disney?s suite of channels (Hungama, Disney Channel, Jetix) while Viacom?s Nick achieves a share of around 14%. Turner is stronger in the south than in Hindi speaking markets, where Disney and Viacom dominate.

On-ground activities

?The key task is to enhance sampling of the channel with a 360-degree marketing initiative. We take the characters beyond the TV to the home, school and mall,? says Jaipuria. One way of doing this is to extend the content to on-ground activities. ?We even put TV spots in the channels kids watch,? adds Jaipuria. ?We do a whole lot of engagement with kids. In the recent past, we have had 19 interactive sessions with children, featuring contests, drawings, making rakhis. We celebrate every festival in Nick style.?

For Tata of Cartoon Network, ?the key challenge is to take the content out of TV and on to other platforms.? For one popular show, M.A.D (Music, Art, Dance), the channel tied up with Singapore Tourism and took the show to Singapore. Besides, there are M.A.D books and do-it-yourself kits online. Together with ICICI Bank, it launched a Tom & Jerry credit card. For summer, the channel is lining up a feast of movies, including the Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra starrer Krrish 3, and other new launches.

?Music and dance are very big at

Disney, which is the only channel that targets tweeners or 8-12-year-olds,? says Bhosle. ?For kids, it?s aspirational to learn dancing now, that?s why we are going on that route. This summer, 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.

Growth path

According to Smita Jha, associate director, PwC, kids?s channels will expand if there?s a growth in double-TV households. ?In India, most households have a single TV and now even general entertainment channels are showing kids? content,? she points out. As most the players have experienced, kids? channels also needs a lot of local content.

?Acquisition is great,? says Cartoon Network?s Tata, but ?we also must create our own content.? Jha says together with local content, the channels must also manage their costs well. ?The channels can make money from on-ground promotions, properties, licensing and merchandising. One needs to build a lot of events around the programmes,? she adds. All the players will agree.