Power to the Mouse

Two new Disney channels hope to exploit the market for juvenile advertising

This past year has seen a flurry of kids' TV programming introduced to Indian channels. The launch of two new Disney channels this week is just the tip of the iceberg: three channels have been launched since January alone "" Pogo (from Turner, the people behind Cartoon Network), Hungama (from UTV) and Sony's Animax.

The reason everyone's suddenly waking up to kids' programming is obvious "" there are around 340 million under-15s in the country, and less than 10 per cent of television time is devoted to children's viewing.

Including the new launches, there are only six channels in India devoted specifically to kids; in the UK, there are 24, and not nearly as many kids.

Turner's Cartoon Network, launched here in 1995, has had not only had a head start, it is also the most successful: newer channels such as Splash and Nickelodeon have not enjoyed the same degree of success.

Some industry pundits cite Cartoon Network's increasing localisation (with shows such as Hanuman, Chota Birbal and The Adventures of Tenali Raman) as the key to its success, and this is what Disney hopes to capitalise on also.

"We are, obviously, a huge international name," says Rajat Jain, managing director, Walt Disney Television International (India).

"There's no reason to believe that Mickey Mouse, defying all other markets, will not work here. But on the other hand we also believe in original content, and a certain degree of localisation is absolutely crucial."

This project, in fact, is Disney's largest localisation project anywhere, and has the largest degree of localisation of any channel in India. Two 24-hour channels are being launched, Disney Channel and Toon Disney, in Hindi and Tamil/Telegu respectively.

Along with a little local animation, which Disney is apparently planning to include and develop, there will be local studio shows ("Studio Disney") and educational programmes for pre-schoolers ("Playhouse Disney").

"We're bringing the brand promise that Disney has had since its inception, going all the way back to Walt Disney, of story-telling, fun, optimism, decency and community to India," says Jain.

The other side of so many kids' channels is the amount of marketing space they open up. Over half the advertising for kids goes to television, and this is turning into a great untapped market, so much so that products that are emphatically not for kids, such as Maruti cars and ICICI Bank services, are jumping on board.

Kids are quick to latch on to a catchy phrase or a clear message, and this coupled with their infamous "pester power" means that the impact on consumption is great.

"I think it's quite a positive thing actually," Jain says. "Kids are becoming smarter, more aware and more mature, and the fact that advertisers are using kid power to sell products that aren't aimed at kids is a reflectionof this. So it's a very positive movement."

Kids may be getting smarter, but if they're also being targeted as potential consumers, and taught from an early age that they need to keep up with the Joshis, it may not be as positive as Jain makes out.