Vacation time spells boom time for children’s channels as an exciting new line-up promises to keep boredom at bay
The summer vacation is here and it’s not just the kids who are rejoicing. It’s a happy time for broadcasters too as kids’ channels are experiencing a sharp increase in viewership. With parents wondering how to keep their kids busy and out of trouble, broadcasters have stepped in. In other words, expect new shows or new episodes of existing shows.
So while NICK launched Shaktiman, Power Rangers and Ninja Samurai, Pogo achieved a leadership position riding on the success of its animated show Chhota Bheem, reported to be the top show on kids’ channels in India. Meanwhile, Disney channel is all set to premiere the second season of its hit family comedy, Best Of Luck Nikki on Sunday, June 3, at 11 am.
Nina Elavia Jaipuria, EVP & GM, SONIC and Nickelodeon India, reveals, “The decision to launch new shows is due largely to the fact that the vacation months are up. The kids’ category experiences a growth rate of almost 10 to 20 per cent in viewership during these months.”
Unlike Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs), which draw the highest ad revenue from the prime-time, 8 to 11 pm slot, kids’ channels enjoy prime time from morning through to the afternoon and sometimes even till evening during the vacations.
But afternoon slot are the highest eyeball grabbers. Jaipuria adds, “More than 20 per cent of the ratings usually come in during the 12 to 3 pm spot. Also, as with most other channels, weekends are high-rating contributors too.”
Kids’ channels enjoy a 6.3 per cent viewership share, which is a third of Hindi GECs at 27.4 per cent and Hindi movie channels at 11.9 per cent. But over the last few years, several national players in the children’s genre expanded their footprint to regional markets in 2011. Viacom, for instance, launched its new kids’ channel SONIC with a multi-lingual feed. Sun TV network too launched a new kids’ channel. Kochu TV, in Malayalam in addition to its three existing kids’ channels in the Tamil and Telugu markets.
According to a FICCI KPMG report, this genre is becoming an important television segment, reportedly delivering over 500 GRPs every week compared to the industry average of 200 GRPs.
The ad spend on this category is still quite feeble, at less than 2 per cent. But with the role of children as purchase influencers has long been recognised by advertisers. With 30 to 35 per cent of the viewership on these channels attributed to adults 15 years and above, non-traditional advertisers like automobiles, BFSI and other non-FMCG household consumables also advertise on these channels.
