Exclusive | 23% of kids viewership comes from digital homes: Turner's Monica Tata

Cartoon Network recently partnered with Xilam, a French animation studio to co-produce - all new and exclusive Oggy and the Cockroaches season 4.  Oggy and the Cockroaches was earlier aired on Nickelodeon India . The latest instalment of Oggy and the Cockroaches will comprise episodes of fast, crazy and hilarious adventures. In addition to the new episodes, the series will also include some special episodes that will take Oggy and his mischievous roaches out of their regular episode format to feature them in new environments and situations. 

 

Adgully caught up with Monica Tata- General Manager, Entertainment Networks, South Asia, Turner International India Pvt. Ltd as she talks about this major acquisition.

 

Talking about Cartoon Network’s  unique approach to Oggy and Cockroaches, she said, “As a kids’ entertainment channel, it is our constant effort to create and acquire local as well as international content that enthralls our young viewers. Oggy and the Cockroaches being an internationally renowned comedy animated series fits perfectly into our content portfolio and Cartoon Networks ideology of “It’s a Fun Thing!”. The show premiered on July 16, 2012 and airs every Monday-Friday at 3pm. To further excite kids, we will be launching a whole new season and special India centric episodes towards the end of the year.”

 

Speaking about the partnership with Xilam, she says, “ Earlier this year, Cartoon Network Asia Pacific acquired Oggy and the Cockroaches from leading French animation studio– Xilam. In addition, an exclusive agreement was signed to create the fourth season of the hit animated comedy series. This agreement reinforces Cartoon Network’s ongoing commitment to invest in premium quality animation to engage fans.”

 

The media mix employed for the promotion of the show involves on-air, online and on-ground activities. To fuel tune-ins and increase the on-air excitement, Cartoon Network launched a contest called ‘Oggy di New House Party!’ wherein there are exclusive Oggy and the Cockroaches merchandise to be won and one lucky winner will get the exciting bumper prize of a gift voucher worth Rs. 50,000/- for a fabulous home makeover. All kids have to do is tune-in to the show from July 23 – August 31, every Monday to Friday and send their answers by SMS: CN (space) (A or B) to 58888.

 

Interestingly, the entire Cartoon Network website – www.cartoonnetworkindia.com, has been given a new look to reflect the Oggy and the Cockroaches theme. Several show based games, videos, trivia, etc are also on the cards.

 

The key highlight of the marketing mix is the on-ground School Contact Program called ‘Oggy di New House Party!’ that is being conducted across 8 cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Madhurai) in India. By tapping almost 550 schools, Cartoon Network aims at engaging over 5 Lakh kids through games, activities and merchandise based on Oggy and the Cockroaches.

 

Elaborating on the challenges that the kids genre faces today, Monica said, “In India, although the kids’ genre is the largest after GECs, it commands a relatively smaller viewership pie. Also, with the rising number of channels in this genre, there is cut throat competition to be No. 1 on a weekly basis. But competition is always healthy and helps the whole genre develop. At Cartoon Network and POGO, we see this changing landscape as an opportunity to meet kids’ growing appetite for more diverse and engaging content.”

 

Presenting an interesting insight; she adds, “The kids’ genre has always been under-priced. But as more and more advertisers accept that kids are decision makers not only for traditional categories like chocolates, biscuits, etc. but also for non-traditional categories like automobiles, telecom, financial services, etc. There has been an increase in the number of advertisers that have started using kids channels as a means of communication. In 2011, nearly 35-40% ad spends came from non-traditional advertisers on Cartoon Network and POGO. The kids’ ad market has grown at about 10-11% per annum over the last 3 years and the same is likely to continue going forward. Although presently there are distribution bottlenecks, we are optimistic that that particular obstacle will be resolved post the roll out of DAS in the next couple of months.”

 

Shedding light on the current trends that she observes in the genre, Monica says, “There have been several trends that have emerged in the kids genre over the years. 23% of kids viewership now comes from digital homes as against 12% last year due to change in Universe/ Panel updation. Several new channels targeting kids also entered the arena. An interesting trend noticed was 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. One important highlight for Turner is that POGO has consistently risen to be the number 1 kids’ channel while Cartoon Network is slowly but surely moving into second position.”

 

Commenting on future innovations, she said, “Future innovations purely depend on our target audiences’ preferences; which are absolutely dynamic and evolving. We will leverage every opportunity that presents itself to ensure maximum engagement and excitement for our audiences. We have lined up several exciting on-ground innovations throughout the rest of the year.”

 

On an end note, Monica exclaims, “Oggy and the Cockroaches is the perfect fit with Cartoon Network’s belief of “It’s a Fun Thing!” and is an excellent addition to the existing line-up of successful shows. The show has seen phenomenal success in the past and we expect it to only do better. The ratings of show and channel performance in the first two weeks are testament to this new partnership. We look forward to see Cartoon Network lead the kids’ genre once again, with Oggy and the Cockroaches.”