When it comes to the big screen, kids content does not find much traction. However, things aren't the same on television where the genre is a potent category. Probably, that's why a late entrant like Sony Yay, which completed two years in April, is gung-ho about its prospects.
Starting its journey in 2017, Sony Yay, a channel targeted at kids aged 2 – 14 years, ranked fourth with 126 hours of time spent on television, according to BARC average for week 12 to 15. On the leadership board, for the same period Hungama stood first, followed by Disney Channel (DC) and Nick.
In conversation with Moneycontrol, Leena Lele Dutta, Business Head, Sony Pictures Networks India, Kids genre, said: "We were the last entrant into the category and we had to jostle our way to make our mark. We were late entrant for a particular reason. Having evaluated the scenario we came up with a unique strategy of curating content of what kids want, what genres they like and what characters that they lean towards, the kind of story telling, quality of animation and languages absolutely pertaining towards television consumption pattern."
Talking about kids segment on television, Dutta said that it is important because after GECs (general entertainment channels), news and sports (depending on the topicality) and movies, it is kids genre that qualifies as an important category.
"A lot of co-viewing happens for this category as mothers who are the gatekeepers for this category watch a lot of this content. It is important not only from a viewership perspective but also from a brand association perspective. So, a lot of FMCG companies have to be on our channels," she added.
On the other hand, in terms of films the segment lags behind. However, Dutta feels that there is a huge potential for this category. And that's why Sony Yay has theatrical launches on its mind.
"Currently, we are looking at one of our characters KickO and Super Speedo to actually getting into the theatrical space. We understand that this market is of importance. The kids genre per say there are two local IPs that have come and hit the large screen - Chhota Bheem and Motu Patlu," she added.
While there has been no transition from broadcast to theatres for Sony Yay as of now, the channel has launched four movies for television - Kicko V/S Shrinko, Kicko and Super Speedo VS Benaam Woh, Kicko and Superspeedo in Return of The Devils and Kicko and Superspeedo in Future Man Attacks.
Ask Dutta why animation content is a big success in Hollywood and why the segment is not mirroring the same success in India, she says, “can’t compare Hollywood and Indian productions in the kids segment because the scale and cost of production is completely different."
"Indian animation movies are made for Indian audiences whereas Hollywood animation are made for world audiences including China which contributes 35 percent of the box office. Hence, the comparison is unfair but if I am only looking at it from Indian standpoint on how animation movies are doing for the cost of making it and the kind of revenue it gets it is still small,” she added.
She added that "for our theatrical debut, we are not looking at only revenue but also what upside will it give for licensing and merchandising, our brand tie-up. It gives the IP the adequate exposure and the perceived value of the IP becomes much more."
Two years back, Sony Network India recast its kids television strategy in India, and launched Sony Yay in place of its Animax Network, which carried predominantly Japanese anime content. While there is a loyal fan base for this kind of content Sony Yay has no plans to bring it back to television.
"We haven’t completely taken off the anime content. It is on our OTT (over the top ) channel Sony Liv because it has an extremely sticky fanbase but it is not available on TV because the numbers are really small," said Dutta.
For lack of anime content in India some experts say that the viewership has gone down while others say that channels want to promote local content hence, they are focusing on home-grown content.
While Sony is still holding the interest of anime's fan base in India via its online video streaming platform, on television its focus is on four shows namely Honey Bunny ka Jhol Maal, KickO, Super Speedo, Guru and Bhole, Paap-o-Metre.
This summer, the channel added 100 hours of content, tripling its content bank to 300 hours since launch. With 13 movies and content in seven languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bangla, Malayalam and Marathi, the channel is focusing on consolidation this year.
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