Sony YAY!’s GRP grew by 195% between 2018-2022: Ronojoy Chakraborty

Kids’ channel Sony YAY! has been experimenting with different genres. This channel’s main goal is to create a happyverse for its viewers. Sony YAY! claims to have recorded a 195% growth in its GRP in the last few years. Sony YAY! is bringing Naruto, a popular Japanese anime series, targetted at young adults. The focus is to bring something to binge for grownups who watch TV with their kids.

In conversation with Adgully, Ronojoy Chakraborty, Head of Programming, Sony YAY!, speaks about the channel’s growth in the kids’ genre, how the launch of Naruto series will grow the viewership base to include young adults, creating a ‘Happyverse’ for viewers, and more.

What is the idea and concept behind bringing Naruto to Sony YAY!?

Sony YAY! is a platform that has been experimenting with the different genres within comedy earlier. Now, we have expanded it to other genres, and that is the reason why we have acquired Naruto, which is one of the most popular Japanese anime series. We wanted to try this out on our channel and have received good results.

For Naruto, the target audience is young adults too. What made you decide to expand your target audience from kids to young adults?

We already had data on co-viewing, and we knew 31-40 years are also watching with the 2-14 years, which is now our primary TG. We always wanted to have this co-viewing on the channel. Now the programs we are putting up on our channel are targeting the same set of audience, which is kids as well as their families. There was a great co-viewing number for the family show ‘Tarak Mehta kka Chhota Chashmah’. In the same vein, Naruto has a target audience of both kids and adults.

How has the audience responded to the Naruto being back on Indian television?

Naruto has received a fabulous response. We are launching the new seasons now. If we look at the growth of the channel down the years, it has been fantastic. We have been number one in the HSM Urban Market for the entire year. If you look at our story from 2018 till today, we have seen our GRPs grow by 195%. We are the fastest-growing channel in the kids’ category, and this has happened because we have experimented with various genres of programs, which also include Naruto.

What other anime shows can we expect Sony YAY! to bring in the year ahead?

We are in conversation with several producers for licenses of different anime shows and they are under negotiations. So, you can expect a lot of forthcoming shows in the year ahead.

What are the marketing trends expected in 2023?

Primarily, the trend in content is ‘Variety’. We want our viewers to be happy and that’s why we would like to call it a ‘Happyverse’. We want to be there where kids are – be it any platform, be it digital or ground activities, be it gaming or licensing and merchandising. So, we want to be across all platforms and we want to cater to kids in that perspective.