MxMIndia

Tag: Sonic

  • Partnership with Cosmos-Maya brings homegrown IP – 'Kanha – Morpankh Samraat'

    Nickelodeon to air new IP on Sonic & Colors Rishtey

    By Our Staff

     

    Nickelodeon is all set to bring its recently announced 13th homegrown IP – ‘Kanha – Morpankh Samraat’ on Sonic. Nickelodeon will extend the show beyond its channel, and make way to the Viacom18’s Hindi general entertainment channel Colors Rishtey, thereby strengthening the kids’ franchise’s presence across different age groups and widening its impact.

     

    Speaking on the latest addition to its homegrown IP lineup, Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head, Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18, said, “At Nickelodeon, we have consistently set category benchmarks, revolutionising entertainment for young audiences. We believe that introducing a show like Kanha – Morpankh Samraat will help kids connect to their roots through inspiring tales from our rich cultural heritage. As we embark on this remarkable journey, we remain dedicated to strengthening our franchise while simultaneously extending our content beyond our kids’ network on Colors Rishtey, thus reaching new heights and connecting with the minds of kids and families alike.”

     

    Anu Sikka, Head – Creative, Content, and Research, Kids TV Network, Viacom18 further added: “At Nickelodeon, we prioritize our young audience and strive to provide them with content that they truly enjoy. We have always broken the mould by bringing unique stories and endearing characters. While Kanha is an evergreen character, it’s time to bring back his tales in a new avatar that appeals to a wider audience. Our partnership with Cosmos-Maya further amplifies our commitment to creating groundbreaking content that sparks imagination and ignites young minds.”

     

    Megha Tata, Chief Executive Officer, Cosmos Maya said: “As Nickelodeon embarks on the journey to create a new world with their latest IP ‘Kanha – Morpankh Samraat’, we are thrilled to partner with them once again. This association strengthens our bond and reflects our commitment to delivering engaging and captivating content to young viewers. Together with Nickelodeon, we are excited to bring to life the adventures of Lord Kanha in an adolescent avatar.”

     

  • Paper to be presented at American Marketing Association (AMA)

    BrandMusiq study on sonic branding

    By Our Staff

     

    A study on ‘Melodic Scales, Ragas and their impact on Emotions and Brands’ jointly done by BrandMusiq and Northern Illinois University has been selected as a paper to be presented at the AMA Academic Conference at Nashville.

     

    Rajeev Raja, Founder and Soundsmith, BrandMusiq and Professor Vijaykumar Krishnan, Chair Department of Marketing, Northern Illinois University will present the paper on February 11 at Nashville, USA.

     

    Said Raja: ‘Very excited to present our paper at the AMA in Nashville together with Prof. Krishnan. The study will go a long way in establishing the connection between specific musical or stimuli and its impact on human emotions. It will provide tremendous value to brands when applied in the context of sonic branding.’

     

    Added Prof Krishnan: ‘We have some really exciting research results relating specific scales/ragas to specific constellations of emotions – always intuitive to me as a musician. I am thrilled that we now have scientific and objective evidence in support of these claims. It’s been a wonderful association working with BrandMusiq. Looking forward to co-presenting the findings at the conference with Rajeev.’

     

  • Created by Belgian comic book writer Pierre Culliford, also known as Peyo, in 1958, The Smurfs reside in a community of small, blue, human-like characters who live in mushroom-shaped houses in a forest

    Smurfs now on Sonic

    By Our Staff

     

    Popular show Smurfs will now be part of Sonic, part of India’s leading kids’ entertainment franchise Nickelodeon, starting today, June 13.

     

    Created by Belgian comic book writer Pierre Culliford, also known as Peyo, in 1958, The Smurfs reside in a community of small, blue, human-like characters who live in mushroom-shaped houses in a forest. The show will feature popular Smurf characters, including Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Brainy, Hefty, Clumsy, and others, embarking on new adventures full of humour, heart, and high-stake action.

     

    Speaking about bringing Smurfs to India, Anu Sikka – Head Creative, Content & Research, Kids TV Network, Viacom18, said: “Sonic since its inception, has successfully grown to become an entertainment hub with engaging stories, endearing characters and a solid kids’ connect. We have consistently catered to our young viewers’ evolving preferences with innovative entertainment and immersive storytelling. Bringing internationally acclaimed ‘Smurfs’ will further bring variety and scale to Sonic’s growing content library. With this launch, we hope to further add depth to our programming strategy and fulfil our mission of entertaining kids.”

     

  • The channel went live on December 19, 2011

    Viacom18’s Sonic is 10

    By Our Staff

     

    Viacom18’s Sonic is celebrating 10 years of entertaining kids. It was launched on December 19, 2011 as part of the Nickelodeon franchise.

     

    Said Nina Jaipuria, Head of Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18: “When we started our journey with Sonic a decade ago, we took a plunge in the highly competitive kids category. From then to now, Sonic has grown leaps and bounds. The success story of Sonic is a result of our kids first approach in driving innovation with pioneering homegrown content thus making Nickelodeon the leading franchise. We take great pride in Sonic’s success and are truly overwhelmed with the love it continues to receive from kids and advertisers alike. We are happy to have built a brand that is a destination that kids return to for their daily dose of entertainment and look forward to the next phase with enthusiasm and zeal.”

     

    To commemorate Sonic’s decade long journey, a special ‘Tenniversary’ campaign has been devised.

     

  • Happy & Pinaki – The Bhoot Bandhus is the name of the show

    Nickelodeon announces 10th IP for Sonic

    By A Correspondent

     

    After a slew of home-grown IPs like Motu Patlu, Pakdam Pakdai, Shiva, Rudra, amongst others, Nickelodeon is all set to introduce its first spooky comic series and its 10th Indigenous IP – Lego presents “Happy & Pinaki- The Bhoot Bandhus” on Sonic. Produced by Tavrohi Animation, the show will start on November 9 at 11:30 AM.

     

    Speaking about the success of the homegrown IPs, Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head – Hindi Mass Entertainment and the Kids TV Network at Viacom18  said: “Kids are at the center of our universe and understanding their evolving preferences and catering to their diverse entertainment needs is at the core of all our initiatives. With each passing year, we have identified white spaces and brought alive clutter breaking and pioneering series that have gone on to be category game changers and favorites amongst all our stakeholders -kids, parents and advertisers ensuring that we are the most loved No1 kids entertainment brand in the country. With the launch of our new show Pinaki & Happy-The Bhoot Bandhus on Sonic, we are set to once again enthrall our young viewers with an immersive and unmatched entertainment experience.”

     

    Added Anu Sikka, Head – Content, Kids TV Network, Viacom18: “With the launch of our new show Pinaki & Happy -The Bhoot Bandhus, we are expanding our already popular programming catalogue to keep our young audience entertained. Each character and their traits are so carefully crafted that I’m confident that the Bhoot Bandhus will be thoroughly loved by the kids. The show promises to take kids into a new world of fun bringing to them first of it’s spooky-comedy series which takes them on a laughter ride when the bhoot world meets the real world. Over the years our adorable toons have formed an unbreakable bond with kids through the stories they tell and we are confident that that our young viewers will surely embrace the new characters  and make them a part of their daily lives.”

     

     

  • SONIC in its new swish avatar will go live, starting 3rd May, 2016

    Sonic undergoes rebranding; revisits content strategy too

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kids franchise, Nickelodeon is set to rebrand its 2011 launched kids channel – SONIC.  With this rebranding, SONIC, an integral part of the kids franchise, is all set to evolve its content strategy to now include edgy comedy along with riveting action. The evolution in the content strategy will be brought alive through the renewed graphic elements and the new vibrant logo imbued with energy and life.  SONIC will go live, starting 3rdMay, 2016.

     

    The channel is already prepped for the transformation through a refreshing programming line-up. This change has already been set into motion with India’s first action comedy series, Shiva moving to SONIC. There will also be new episodes of Pakdam Pakdai and Oggy the Cockroaches along with the ever-green shows Supa Strikas and Shaun The Sheep.

     

    “Our flagship Kids channel Nick has been the genre leader for almost 2 years now and our Kids portfolio is amongst the top 2 in India. Seen in this light, the rebranding exercise for Sonic is part of an evolving  content strategy aimed at building Sonic up as a strong second to Nick, thereby increasing the combined viewership share of our Kids portfolio as we aim to cement our position as the number one Kids’ content destination in India,” said Sudhanshu Vats – Group CEO, Viacom18, as he further underlined the importance of the Kids genre, “Our commitment to the genre is reflected in how we’ve placed it across our network through Consumer Products and a dedicated section in our OTT service Voot.”

     

    Talking about the rebranding of SONIC, Nina Elavia Jaipuria -EVP and Head – Kids Cluster, Viacom18 said “While Nickelodeon continues its dream run, our focus for this year is on building SONIC into a formidable channel that becomes a part of every child’s daily life. Our research shows that Children love action but with a significant dash of comedy.   It is aligning to this insight that we have curated the all new SONIC that is fun, refreshing, vibrant, full of action and entertainment  and with an edgy sense of humor which we are sure that children will love.”

     

    The refreshed look of the channel will be brought to life with the Shiva campaign. The expansive marketing campaign will have promotions with an extensive cross channel plan, large scale on-ground, ambient engagement and interesting on-line interactivity. Adding to this will be the on-ground initiatives like retail and mall partnerships, the association with Pantaloons for the Junior Fashion Icon, SHIVA themed games and meet-and-greets at Funcity, etc, all of which will introduce as well as allow kids’ to engage with their all new SONIC.

     

    With an enthralling programming lineup and an enhanced visual experience, SONIC is all set to zoom into the daily life of every child in India.

     

  • [story unavailable]

    [story unavailable]

    [story unavailable]

     

  • MxMIndia spoke to Nina Elavia Jaipuria, EVP & Business Head, Sonic & Nickelodeon (India), on the importance of an online presence, and how one kids' channel can differentiate itself from the others

    Need to change to be at par with Gen Y: Nina Jaipuria

    Nina Jaipuria

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    Gone are the days when children had to wait for morning or evening slots to watch their favourite cartoon characters. Today, they just have to browse through the various kiddie channels available to catch their favourite shows and characters anytime.

     

    The children’s genre has grown manifold in the past few years with more and more channels launching and bringing international as well as local shows to the Indian living room.

     

    So, how does one stay ahead in this race? And the answer is as simple as – move with the times. There is no doubt that the world is moving online. And the latest addition to the digital world are children who have grown up on ipads and smart phones. Hence, kids channels alone cannot survive on television alone. Most of them have a very active online avatar to attract their target audience.

     

    MxMIndia spoke to Nina Elavia Jaipuria, EVP & Business Head, Sonic & Nickelodeon (India) to find out why is it important for a channel in the kids genre to be online today, and how their channels are different from the rest.

     

    Why is it important for a channel to have an online presence today?

    There are a couple of reasons why one should be present in the digital platform. Firstly and foremost, it helps one to engage with its audience beyond television. It also helps the brand to enhance its presence. It gives a touch-feel-play experience so helps the audience know what the brand is all about. And lastly, it makes it a two-way communication wherein the brand can have a dialogue with its TG and know their likes and dislikes which further helps the channel to know and alter according to what the audience wants.

     

    For us, staying ahead is important and therefore, an online presence helps us create a ‘cool’ imagine among our TG. One has to keep on changing with time if they want to stay at par with Gen Y which is online almost 24/7.

     

    How can a channel benefit from this?

    In the past few years, the traffic online has increased and a majority of them are kids/youth. Therefore, an online presence gives us an idea about what children prefer today. Which indeed helps us to create a strong community based on their likes and dislikes. For a channel, it is important to have this two-way communication rather than seeing it as competition.

     

    What online activities does your channel indulge in? What is your online budget?

    Apart from various (100+) games and videos, we have a lot of contests on occasions like Friendship Day, Fathers Day etc wherein children can win gift vouchers. We also have e-cards as well as paint and print app. For the youth channel – Sonic – we have created a special section ‘TechnoSonic’ which features futuristic gadgets which interests a certain age-group. Also, we have a strong presence on social media where we want to build a strong online community!

     

    Most of our marketing budget is spent on BLT activities like school or mall activities. However, online presence is also very important for us. Thus, an appropriate amount is spent on the digital space as well.

     

    There have been debates about the need for kids’ channels to be more responsible about the content they show. What is your take?

    Yes, I do believe that broadcasters need to be careful about what is shown as children’s minds are easily influenced at that tender age. Therefore, we also believe in gaining the trust of ‘gatekeepers’ ie parents. Most of our children have a moral message like good’s win over evil. Even the language used is very safe.

     

    Even online, we monitor what is posted on our websites. For instance, if an offensive word is found, we delete it immediately. And regular offenders are even blocked.

     

  • For the consumer, it is a chance to view a particular channel in his mother tongue. For channels, it is about expanding viewership base and accumulating additional revenues

    Speaking in tongues, good for TV channels

     

    By Rishi Vora

     

    TV channels are gung-ho about the digital revolution India is witnessing. New launches and the ones in the pipeline – all are preparing to be on DTH or Digital Cable. Well, what this brings to viewers and for the industry is a  novel trend: the rise of language feeds. For the consumer, it is now a chance to view a particular channel in his mother tongue. For channels, it is about expanding viewership base and accumulating additional revenues via local advertisers.

     

    The trend is visibly on the rising side. Big CBS launched Spark Punjabi. Sonic has extended its offering to Marathi and Bengali. History, the factual entertainment channel from the A+E Networks recently launched the Gujarati feed, making it the only channel to be available in seven languages (Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi and English). Discovery serves in English, Telugu, Bengali, Hindi, while National Geographic is present in five feeds: English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil. The trend, quite noticeably is seen in the kids and the factual entertainment genre.

     

    For these international channels, the opportunity is way too big to be missed. The cost of launching a new feed vis-a-vis the return it brings to the table in terms of reach, viewership and revenue, is negligible. All it accounts for is an additional cost on dubbing, which on most occasions, for all channels would be an incremental cost since English and Hindi languages are by most channels, already operational. Sangeetha Aiyer, General Manager – Marketing A+E Networks and TV 18 JV informs that the cost of dubbing varies between 7 to 15 per cent of a programming budget.

     

    “The trend has been around for a while,” says Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Executive VP and General Manager, Sonic and Nick India. She further adds, “For us, since we cater to the kids and the young adults of India, it is important that the characters kids have an affinity towards speak to them in their mother tongue – the language they speak at home. That is the best way you can engage and entertain them.” Aiyer agrees that it brings in more revenue and viewership for the channel, but also calls for a lot of co-ordination with studios which at times can be painstaking. Ensuring quality control, scripts, technicians etc is one part of the challenge, while lack of experts in languages like Marathi or Bengali is another challenge.

     

    Most channels outsource the dubbing work to studios, except UTV Action which contracts its sister company UTV Software on the same. UTV Action, as is known was one of the early movers in the movies segment to offer Hollywood films dubbed in Hindi. The channel later launched its Telugu feed. Manasi Sapre, Programming Head, UTV Action says that Telugu feed opens up a big market for the channel. “We’re seeing a lot of traction from the Telugu market, where the appetite for Hollywood movie watching is constantly increasing. Telugu market is one market where you can be rest assured of a good response, given the fact that the southern belt likes to view content in their own language rather than English or Hindi.”

     

    A separate P&L company within the UTV group – UTV Software, has been in the business of dubbing for more than 15 years now. The company is seen as a pioneer, currently handling projects like Walt Disney, Hungama, Fox Traveller, National Geeographic Wild, NDTV Good Times and UTV Action. The company dubs 40-50 hours of content every month, so considering that content is offered in a minimum of  four languages, it means 200 hours of content being dubbed every month.

     

    According to Rahul Bhatia, Senior VP – Dubbing, UTV Software, the dubbing industry has grown leaps and bounds in the past five to seven years in terms of the number of players. The market still remains majorly unorganised with UTV as a major player as against many small studios that do one-off projects. “Price-points for dubbing have gone down drastically. From what it used to be Rs 1 lakh for an hour 10 years back, it is now come down to Rs 25,000. But, on the brighter side, volumes have increased. Three years back it was only Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, but now if you see, the market is growing to other languages like Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali and Punjabi.”

     

    Quite interestingly, for many channels that bring in international content from countries like Japan, Korea or even China, content is translated to English and then dubbed to various other languages, which is a lot of effort on the part of the studios. Part of the reason for this tedious procedure is the fact that channels are extra careful to ensure that  international standards are maintained.

     

    Given the kind of growth dubbing has seen and that many channels have launched multiple feeds, there are chances that a few broadcast majors would want to set up their own studios. Maybe it is too early to say, or the existing outsourcing practice could well be effective enough as one may not want to get into the business, which could well mean diverting the attention from three major functions: Content, Distribution, Sales. Even for now, Dubbing seems to come later in the priority list of the channels.

     

  • After Comedy Central, Viacom 18 announces Sonic, a sci-fi entertainment channel TGing young 10- to 17-year-old adults

    Viacom18’s ‘Sonic’ plan to dominate TV-land

    By Rishi Vora

     

    After announcing the launch of Comedy Central, Viacom 18 has now unveiled yet another offering in its bouquet: Sonic, a sci-fi entertainment channel catering to young adults, falling in the age bracket of 10-17. The channel will bank on Action, Adventure and Animation – the three main areas around which the programming strategy will revolve.

     

    What Sonic’s launch does to the market is extend its scope a bit. With other channels in the kids’ genre typically falling in the age group, largely between 4- 14, Sonic extends that to slightly older kids, up to 17 years – a segment which constitutes 30-40 percent of the 4+ market, and the one which is underserved in India. For Viacom 18, it is a significant development, for now as a group it caters to every segment in the Indian entertainment industry. Colors – the Hindi GEC, MTV in the youth category, Nick catering to kids aged between 10-14, and Comedy Central – a comedy channel for 14 + audiences.

     

    But it is too early to tell, whether Sonic will make an impact. A senior member from one of the kids’ channels, who did not wished to be named, said, “While we welcome one more channel in the genre, these are early days to comment on what it does to the segment – will it succeed, will it not? So it is only fair to wait and watch. Coming from the Viacom stable, all I can say is it’ll be interesting to see how the channel progresses.”

     

    Nikhil Rangnekar, Joint CEO, Spatial Access said, “It’s going to be challenging for the new player to establish itself, with its new positioning of catering to young adults. It will be interesting to see what differentiation they bring to the genre, as animation and adventure is a game that existing players are already playing.”

     

    Viacom 18 execs, however, are confident of putting up a good show. Mr Haresh Chawla, Group CEO, Viacom 18, said in the official communique, “Sonic further expands Viacom 18’s presence in a demographic bracket that has remained un-tapped, but is probably the biggest influencer on family purchase decisions. Like our other businesses, we are confident of Sonic establishing a dominating presence within the first year of its operations.”

     

    He further added, “The next 12 months will see Viacom 18 in an expansion mode and Sonic is the first step in that direction.” Mr Bob Bakish, President and CEO, Viacom International Media Networks said, “The launch of Sonic is significant in many ways. Not only does it further expand the Viacom 18 Network in India but it also opens up an interesting category for both viewers and advertisers. The Viacom 18 Network can now take pride in being the only entertainment network that has specific brands to entertain viewers across every possible age segment.”

     

    Mr Chawla’s comment on reaching a dominating position is a clear indication that the channel will pump in distribution monies, and of course investments on content acquisition. The plan is to reach 40 million households in India. So distribution and content acquisition are two key areas of investments the channel is looking into, in its bid to be a significant player.

     

    Executive Vice President and General Manager, Ms Nina Elavia Jaipuria said that the channel’s efforts will be to have a large set of loyal viewers and keep them engaged through never-seen-before digital initiatives. Elaborating on the TG, she said, “It is going to be a challenge to hold the attention of our TG – the young adults – ones who are on the cusp of adulthood. They’re rebellious, impatient, tech-savvy, hyperactive, confident and competitive. They’re early adapters, experimental, extremely opinionated and big influencers on matters such as purchase decisions.”

     

    Revenue-wise, it will be both advertising and subscription. Though digitization will help, the channel’s foremost challenge is to bring a wide variety of advertisers, from different categories on the channel.

     

    The tagline for Sonic is ‘Thrills. Guts. Glory.’ For presentation and packaging aspects, UK-based company – Red Bee has been hired. Scarecrow is the creative agency and Vizeum will handle media duties.

     

    December 2011 is when Sonic will go on air. The marketing will roll out soon, it’s going to be a 360-degree campaign to start with and digital initiatives as an on-going strategy to engage and interact with tech -savvy young adults.

     

    As history suggests, in other categories of course, many channels have launched with a bang. On being asked what her expectation were at launch, Ms Elavia Jaipuria chuckled, “Wish I could get 30 percent share and even surpass Nick. On a serious note, it will be only be right to review the channel’s performance post four to five weeks of launch.”