Child's play

IN CONVERSATION

Children's entertainment channel Nickelodeon claims to have several aces up its sleeve to topple rival Cartoon Network. Television ratings indicate a northward trend for the channel, and Nina Elavia Jaipuria, vice president and general manager, Nick India believes that the channel has taken share from Pogo and Cartoon Network to augment its position at number three this quarter.

Jaipuria tells Priyanka Joshi how the channel has managed to gain a footing in the crowded kids entertainment genre.

Pulling down current market leader Cartoon Network is no child's lay. Add to it the Herculean task of keeping kids entertained with an engaging programming mix. So how has Nickelodeon faced the competition?

We have moved from being number five to number three this year. This says a lot about our growth. We have managed to garner a channel share of 18 per cent in the kid's entertainment segment by concentrating on one genre "" humour appealing to the 4-14 age group. We haven't really experimented with art and craft shows, or live action, as they are not a part of our programming vision. Plus, they are amply available.

Nickelodeon has grown and diversified into new networks and on the web, but how much can it gain from one SpongeBob (a popular cartoon character)?

We are always looking and innovating for new megahits, but traditionally, business is based on strong performers whom people like, and on whom you build a steady business.

SpongeBob and Ninja Hattori are our chartbuster programmes, but we also have decent viewership for our newly launched kids movie block and contest-based programming slots.

To hold our young audiences, Nickelodeon has been aggressive on the web, launching a website where kids can register and avail free gifts on their birthdays, play games and so on.

We are now also looking at launching festival specific promotional campaigns in October that will include roadshows, movies that are spun around Indian themes like Dusshera, Diwali, and content that is sourced from India.

Be it through merchandising, licensing, or distribution, Nick India seems to be closely tagging the leaders in the pack...

I don't think so. There have been localisation initiatives that have worked well for other entertainment channels, and also for Nick India.

For instance, instead of floating another channel for pre-school kids, we alloted a time band in the morning, dubbed Junior Nick, and then announced a movie-show band for kids during holidays. We have added close to 20 movies till now, and are looking at made-for-television content for children.

We are also talking to Indian production houses to develop Indian mythological movie content for our audiences. In the next few months, we will look at regional live action shows too, but first we need to consolidate our position in market.

Just a few weeks back, we launched our Spongebob merchandise and will be adding to the line up. Right now, it is not a money-making unit, but it definitely promises to be a bigger brand channel for Nick in India.

Children's channels today garner close to Rs 1.4 billion in advertising revenues, with pay TV revenues too expected to contribute in a big way. How do you quantify Nick's commercial success?

Like most international channels, we have 80 per cent of dubbed multi-lingual animated programming content; the rest is sourced from India and comprises local programming and contests that bring in interaction between the channel and the kids.

As a result of increased depth of programming, together with the expansion of the advertising space and the emergence of a robust distribution platform, we see our segment entering a period of sustained growth.

We have increased our commitment to advertisers, by offering them greater audience stickiness than any other channel can boast of today. Clearly our activities, like the interactive contest with actress Mona Singh, were a huge commercial hit that gave us fillip in terms of audience reach in the metros.