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Tag: Voot Kids

  • Announces dedicated kids and family hub

    JioCinema goes on overdrive with kids

    By Our Staff

     

    On Children’s Day, JioCinema announced its foray into children’s entertainment with a focused ‘Kids and Family’ offering. With over 3000 hours of well-known global and Indian Ips in five-plus Indian languages. This takes the separate offering for children under Voot Kids to the next level. A communique issued quotes an unnamed spokesperson saying: “At JioCinema, we are deeply committed to building a one-stop destination for all things entertainment. We are invested in understanding Indian audiences and their preferences and continue to evolve as the preferred source for all their entertainment needs.”

     

    On offer will be old Viacom18 Ips like Motu Patlu, Shiva, Rudra, Chikoo aur Bunty, Pinaki and the Bhoot Bandhus, The Twisted Timelines of Sammy & Raj, Kanha – Morpankh Samrat, among others. And then there will be Harry Potter, Transformers, HBO Storybook musical, The Looney Tunes Show, Super Mario Bros, Justice League War World, Garfield, Tin Tin, Trollstopia, Zig & Shark, Peppa Pig, Pokémon, and movies like Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, Teen Titans Go, Polar Express, Lego Ninjago, The Flintstones, Boss Baby, etc. Some of this has been inked thanks to partnerships with leading studios including Cartoon Network Studios, Dreamworks, EOne, The Pokémon Company & Animaccord, among others, the offering will add fresh content every week.

     

    Headlining the rollout of the kids and family slate is the Pokemania festival which starts today (November 16).

     

    We spoke with an industry observer to get a perspective on the launch, and this is what she said: “What Jio Cinema has been able to crack is the code on what works for children, something that not many grown-up content heads find it difficult to do. Getting top content from across platform is creditable. The kids category is by far the toughest to please given that what appeals to an seven-year-old will be childish for someone who is 11. Jio Cinema has segmented this further with an age-appropriate approach and a promise of new show or movie every week for kids, something that no OTT or linear television offering is doing.”

     

  • With 21 blockbuster movies and over 10,000 minutes of Pokémon Anime Series

    Voot Kids brings home Pokemon

    By Our Staff

     

    Voot Kids, the content platform for children from Viacom18, has added the popular anime franchise Pokémon to its library. On offer: 21 movies and over 10,000+ minutes of Pokémon Anime series episodic content.

     

    Speaking on the initiative, Ferzad Palia, Head – SVOD (Voot Select, Voot Kids) & International Business at Viacom18, said: “At Voot Kids we aim at creating a wholesome experience for our young viewers to enjoy and fun learn from their favourite characters in a 100 per cent kid-safe environment. This endeavour of ours has received significant impetus through last year with the kid’s fun learn category witnessing exponential demand growth. The addition of the vast Pokémon slate to our content repertoire will allow us to further widen our audience base and continue to be category leaders.”

     

    Added Ashutosh Parekh, Head of Content – Voot Kids: “At Voot Kids, we continue to build a roster of compelling stories fronted by top global and local characters. With the consumer at the heart for every initiative on the platform, this was the perfect opportunity to build on the fandom Pokémon holds in India, propelled by kids and those who are kids at heart. Undeniably, this evergreen anime franchise with multiple extensions has evolved to be very relevant to the today’s digital natives, with superlative story arcs and well etched characters that unify action – adventure with humour.”

     

     

  • Starting Saturday, July 17, the mini-series entertains children across India in Tamil, Hindi and English

    Chhota Bheem goes to Singapore on Voot Kids lah

    By Our Staff

    Chhota Bheem, the popular animation series that airs on Pogo on linear television and on Voot Kids in the OTT space, has joined hands with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has joined hands with Voot Kids and Green Gold Animation, the makers of Chhota Bheem, to take Indian audiences on a virtual adventure in Singapore. Titled ‘Chhota Bheem – Adventures in Singapore’, the series brings the destination closer to audiences in an innovative format and engages families and children across India, who are on summer school vacation or studying from home, in a bid to keep safe indoors. Starting Saturday, July 17, the mini-series entertains children across India in Tamil, Hindi and English. In addition to the webisodes, there will be also ebooks and interactive games featuring the adventures of the character, all of which can be downloaded from the Voot Kids app. (If you thought the ‘lah’ in our headline was an error, it wasn’t. For those who are familiar with the way Singaporeans speak, Lah or Laa is a popular suffix in Singlish)

    Ashutosh Parekh
    Ashutosh Parekh

    Speaking on the collaboration, Ashutosh Parekh, Head of Content – Voot Kids said: “At Voot Kids, our mainstay is to provide meaningful screen time pivoting around fun – learn and entertainment which is age appropriate and 100 % safe. This is fueled by one of the largest content libraries in the genre that is truly multi format spanning across top kids’ franchises from all over the world, making it truly a house full of toons. Made locally and loved globally, Chhota Bheem is one of the most watched character since the day we launched Voot Kids. This mini-series is packed with specially created “app-i-sodes” to add diversity to our content slate. As market leaders we thrive on content curation and creation with the consumer at the centre of everything we do. This was the right time to bring delight our young subscribers and their families  who have enjoyed our app indoors, and now will magically be transported to Singapore with never seen before stories of Bheem, without leaving the safety of their home,  exclusively on Voot Kids.”

    Rajiv Chilaka
    Rajiv Chilaka

    Elaborating on the alliance, Rajiv Chilaka, Founder & CEO, Green Gold Animation added: “My biggest endeavour is to push the envelope with Chhota Bheem as an animated character that has millions of fans world over. New stories and new setting always add to Bheem adventurous streak and we are thrilled to partner with Singapore Tourism board to take it to the next level with Voot Kids as the exclusive home of the mini-series Chhota Bheem and friends – Adventures in Singapore. Voot Kids is a pathbreaking platform to emerge as best in the business and rewritten content rules for kids digital platform and we are hopeful that its subscribers will enjoy this fascinating mini-series that stars every kid’s favourite toon Bheem set in every kid’s favourite destination – Singapore.”

    GB Srithar

    Speaking about the  partnership, GB Srithar, Regional Director, India, Middle East & South Asia (IMESA), Singapore Tourism Board, said: “For us, this project is all about putting  happy smiles on the faces of children and families across India, under these stressful times. Chhota Bheem and friends are well-loved characters who bring much cheer, hope, and optimism to Indian audiences. STB is pleased to present the seven episodes as our ;Gift of Smiles’ to Indian audiences. We hope the episodes will entertain families and allow them to experience a slice of Singapore virtually, as they keep safe at home. This creative partnership with Voot Kids and Green Gold is our first animation project and we are happy to offer this to the family audiences in India.”

  • New roles for Ferzad Palia and Anshul Ailawadi

    Viacom18 restructures its leadership team

    By Our Staff

    Ferzad Palia
    Ferzad Palia
    Anshul Ailawadi
    Anshul Ailawadi

    Viacom18 has announced changes in its leadership team to bolster its digital and broadcast businesses. Driving the agenda of growing its digital subscription businesses, in his new role, Ferzad Palia will head all subscriber-driven pay services (SVOD – Voot Select and Voot Kids) and International expansion for Voot and will report to Gourav Rakshit, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures.

    The network’s Youth, Music and English Entertainment business will now be led by Anshul Ailawadi, erstwhile strategy and project management lead at the Group CEO’s office. Ailawadi will report to Rahul Joshi, Managing Director, Network18, in his new role.

    Notes a communique: “In its endeavour to become a future-proof organisation, identifying opportunities to drive synergies is crucial. Ferzad has led the growth of the network’s Youth, Music and English Entertainment business for the past 16 years. More recently he launched Voot Select that has already raced to add 1mn+ subscribers within a year. He will now look to cohesively grow Viacom18’s SVoD and International digital businesses. Anshul has played a key role in the growth of Viacom18 over the last 6 years and is a strong proponent of the tremendous fandom, and the potential business opportunity that the YME brands of Viacom18 command. In a young country like India, these brands have a long runway for growth, especially given the proliferation of digital platforms.

     

     

  • Announces a digital exclusive 21-movie deal to provide young viewers with access to their most loved characters

    Voot Kids partners Green Gold for Bheem

    By Our Staff

     

    Voot Kids has tied up with Green Gold Animation for digital exclusive 21-movies of Bheem. The Voot Kids Moviethon – Bheem Special will debut exclusively on Voot Kids.

    Ashutosh Parekh
    Ashutosh Parekh

    Said Ashutosh Parekh, Head of Content, Voot Kids: “At Voot Kids, our endeavour has always been to create a content driven platform that brings forth best of fun and learn components, which is salient to every child’s screen time journey.  With over 200 characters across our diverse and expansive content library, we aim at creating a wholesome experience for our young viewers to enjoy their favourites at their will. From our launch, Bheem continues to trend in top characters, making it a strong, stable and lovable character that works well with our young users and their parents. This is definitely one of the biggest content driven initiative in the kids digital space ever, and we are excited and hopeful that our digital exclusive 21-movie partnership that bring so many different avatars of Bheem and significantly add diversity to our content slate. We will continue to invest in creative storytelling that our users will cherish”.

    Rajiv Chilaka
    Rajiv Chilaka

    Added Rajiv Chilaka, Founder & CEO, Green Gold Animation: “As the creator of Bheem, as a character has evolved over the last decade than any other IP, with a worldwide fan following. Our endeavour at Green Gold, has always been widen the franchise’s appeal and fan base, thus leading us to collaborate with India’s most inclusive kids’ platform Voot Kids, with a multi format offerings that makes it truly unique. Voot Kid’s content team’s global benchmarks for engagement and curation convinced us that the platform would be the perfect digital home for our characters and fans to build a deeper bond. The scale and the nature of this content partnership got us excited,  given it is one of a kind that the kids entertainment genre has seen till date.  The launch of 21 Bheem movies, latest and the biggest titles as digital exclusive on VOOT Kids underlines the platform’s commitment to keep their little consumers happy. As a committed parent who subscribes Voot Kids for my children VOOT Kids, it has successfully created a safer environment for kids to enjoy their favourite characters. These kinds of initiatives rewrite the rules of disruptive content strategy as we are thrilled to be a part of it.”

     

     

  • Tata Sky Binge is a streaming platform that aggregates various OTT apps under a single interface and single subscription

    Tata Sky Binge strengthens OTT play with Voot Select and Voot Kids

    By A Correspondent

     

    Strengthening its content catalogue to meet the growing entertainment requirements across age groups, Tata Sky Binge – Tata Sky’s OTT aggregator service — has now partnered with Viacom18 Digital Ventures to bring onboard their premium content streaming service Voot Select, and kids-focussed Voot Kids for its subscriber base.

     

    Commenting on the partnership, Pallavi Puri, Chief Commercial and Content Officer, Tata Sky, said: “Keeping customer requirements at the forefront, we have continued to expand the library for Tata Sky Binge with OTT apps that offer the most popular and relatable content for the entire family. In the current environment when children are facing a dearth of entertainment options, adding Voot Kids will enhance the entertainment experience for kids with a balanced library of fun and learning content. Further, with Voot Select, we will open the doors to Viacom18’s exciting library of movies and top Indian TV shows – all available 24 hours before TV.”

     

    Added Gourav Rakshit, COO at Viacom18 Digital Ventures said, “At Voot, we believe in building a versatile and immersive digital ecosystem that will add value to our users with path-breaking and diverse content experiences. With an increase in demand for content consumption, be it entertainment through Voot Select or fun learning through Voot Kids, this promising collaboration with Tata Sky Binge will help us cater and reach out to a larger audience base. We are delighted to partner with a like-minded brand who resonates with our ideologies and will help us make content viewing an enriching and engaging experience for all our viewers.”

     

     

  • It noted that the digital entertainment industry is expected to grow at 29.1 per cent between FY19 and FY24

    IAMAI hosts third edition of Pixels 2020 on digital entertainment

    By A Correspondent

     

    IAMAI conducted the third edition of Pixels 2020 last week to deliberate on the next phase of growth for the digital entertainment industry. The industry is now at an inflection point, and according to a recent study, the digital entertainment industry is expected to grow at 29.1 per cent between FY19 and FY24 to reach INR 621 billion by 2024. With more than 30 OTT players and 10 music streaming apps in existence catering to various entertainment and media demands, Indians are consuming content across an array of digital formats and platforms.

     

    Setting the context, in his keynote address, Nikhil Gandhi, India Head of TikTok, said: “The last year has seen a sharp growth in short video consumption and added to a big increase in overall watch time for online video. This phenomenon has also given rise to a rich content creator ecosystem which has seen big success with short video,” he added.

     

    In a panel discussion on Battle of Web Series – Aiming for 100 Crore Club, speakers discussed about how revenue gets attributed in developing a web series and all the nooks involved around creating one. They also discussed how branding and culture of such shows has immensely helped and lead to monetization in the business. Discussing on the various aspects of the digital space, the panelists shared their thought on how different business is growing and helping in creating a new system.

     

    On a session on Trend Alert – Children’s Content key panelists like Abhishek Dutta, Senior Director & Network Head – Cartoon Network & Pogo, South Asia; Uttam Pal Singh, Head – Discovery Kids, Discovery Communications; Saugato Bhowmik, Business Head, VOOT Kids gave insights on how localisation of shows has actually helping their businesses to grow and adding multiple levels to it like content in local languages has helped the industry to grow. The speakers gave an insight that around 20 per cent of the business caters to the kid’s section and how crucial it is provide correct content for them.

     

    A fireside chat was also held with actor Amol Parashar, where he enlightened the audience how digital space has actually helped him evolve as an actor and has given him that space along with the flexibility without putting any particular constraints.

     

    The conference also saw other speakers including Ajay Chacko, Co-Founder & CEO, Arré; Nagesh Banga, Deputy Country Manager, BIGO LIVE; Paras Tomar, TikTok Creator & Founder, Nuskhe by Paras; Ali Hussein, CEO, Eros Now ; Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited; Sameer Hanchate, Filmmaker, Sameer Hanchate Filmmaker  ;Vivek Jain, COO, MX Player ; Abhishek Dutta, Senior Director & Network Head – Cartoon Network & Pogo, South Asia ; Kumaresh Bhatt, Co-Founder and CEO, UR Popular; Uttam Pal Singh, Head – Discovery Kids, Discovery Communications and Saugato Bhowmik, Business Head, Voot Kids among others.

     

     

  • Voot Kids will offer diverse and multi-genre content offering across Watch, Read, Listen and Learn segments

    Voot Kids partners BBC Studios on content

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 Digital Ventures has gone live with featuring content from BBC Studios’ CBeebies.

     

    Speaking about Voot Kids and the content from BBC Studios, Saugato Bhowmik – Business Head, Voot Kids said: “With Voot Kids, our endeavour is to create a superior curated platform that brings together a prudent mix of fun and learning… Kids love positive stories and adorable toons and the addition of CBeebies shows is sure to add significant diversity and value to our vast content slate.”

     

    Commenting on the content licensing agreement with Viacom18 Media, Stanley Fernandes, Sales Director, South and South East Asia, BBC Studios added: “We are pleased to be partnering with Voot Kids to bring some of CBeebies’ favourite programmes back to Indian audiences. CBeebies is known worldwide for its impressive content line up, with programmes specially designed by developmental experts to promote imaginative play, social interaction, language skills, and educational values. Along with Voot Kids, we are aiming to make screen time meaningful for kids, so that it is entertaining, engaging and enriching.”

     

     

  • The film highlights a mother’s unhesitant approach to introduce the Voot Kids world to her child, which makes screen time meaningful like never before

    Voot brings out the fun in kids via #MastiMeinAchhai campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Voot Kids has unveiled its launch brand campaign, #MastiMeinAchhai. The film is created and directed by McCann Worldgroup India.

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Saugato Bhowmik, Business Head, Voot Kids, said: “Digital literacy is important, and we strongly believe parents play a pivotal role in making the digital journey of their kids more profound by exposing them to appropriate and entertaining content. Voot Kids is the only app to offer Watch, Read, Listen & Learn all in one platform and our brand campaign #MastiMeinAchhai decodes this proposition and bridges the gap for parents and kids to explore Edutainment in its truest form.”

     

    Speaking on the key insight that lead to the campaign ideas Ashish Chakravarty, head of creative and executive director, McCann Worldgroup added: “The story in the film revolving around the constant tussle between parent and child over mobile screen time is a highly relatable one and will find resonance in every household with kids in India, we feel. What is fun to watch in the film, is the story told both from the perspective of the kid and the parent. The little boy -a bonafide James Bond scheming and plotting for his parents’ mobile phone and the parent who is in-the-know all along. The nostalgic track Akkad Bakkad takes us down memory lane, captures the mood and sentiment of the ‘cat and mouse’ situations and complements the film perfectly!”.

     

     

  • VOOT Kids boasts of the largest content library of over 20,000 content pieces across segments

    Viacom18 offers first SVOD OTT platform with Voot Kids

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 launched of its first subscription-based service VOOT Kids on Tuesday. Certified by Early Childhood Association (ECA), Voot Kids is built as a multi-format app for children offering some 20,000 videos, e-books, stories and quizzes amongst other things. Priced at Rs 799 for a year and Rs 99 per month with a seven-day free trial in both packages, the app is available to download on iOS and Google Playstore.

     

    Said Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO & MD, Viacom18: “Viacom18 has grown over the years by focussing on white spaces that are challenging and yet have tremendous potential. As a network, we have been the undisputed leader in kids’ entertainment content since the past five years. Our digital play VOOT is the second largest video-on-demand platform in the country today. VOOT Kids is a synergy of these two growth stories from the house of Viacom18. Marking our sharper segmented foray into the world of subscription-based VoD, VOOT Kids is India’s first and only multi-format Kids app offering Fun & Learning. No other kids app offers Watch, Read, Listen & Learn all at one place”

     

    Added Gourav Rakshit, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures: “The foray into the subscription space with VOOT Kids is the first step in our journey towards building an entire digital ecosystem under brand VOOT. VOOT Kids has been built on the 3 pillars of Product Experience, Content and Safety. In VOOT Kids, we are bringing an offering that is child-friendly, yet parent focussed and gives them an opportunity to bond with an immersive co-consumption experience. Our brand philosophy of ‘Masti Mein Acchai’ reflects our mission to make screen time meaningful.”

     

    Said Saugato Bhowmik, Business Head, VOOT Kids: “VOOT Kids is a category creating product in the space of digital fun learning that caters to needs of discerning Indian parents who seek meaningful screen-time that aids in holistic development of the child’s mental, emotional and social faculties. The app has the largest and most versatile offerings in the space of toon videos, e-books, audio stories and fun quizzes that provides children with a parent-controlled, safe and entertaining content destination.” He further added, “We believe masti should never be served up without acchai and the same holds true the other way around. And this is our guiding philosophy at VOOT Kids”

     

     

  • 175 popular junior fiction and non-fiction titles from Oxford University Press have been licensed to Voot Kids

    Voot Kids to launch as independent OTT app. To source content from OUP

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 Digital Ventures has gone live with its entertainment and fun learning OTT application, Voot Kids. Catering to the digitally native kids ecosystem, Voot Kids will offer entertainment through a diverse content offering “across Watch, Read, Listen and Learn segments”.

     

    On Monday, Voot Kids announced its engagement with Oxford University Press for licensing 175 junior fiction and non-fiction titles. The 500+ e-books now available on Voot Kids, including the titles from Oxford University Press, are all set to provide an immersive reading experience to children, notes a communique.

     

    Said Saugato Bhowmik – Business Head, Voot Kids: “Kids today are screenagers and have emerged as prolific users of content on digital.  As digital natives, they are the first to adopt trends on digital. It was hence imperative to create a platform that offers holistic entertainment and learning experience that would improve quality and relevance of content consumption by kids on digital. Voot Kids is just that  An inclusive app aimed at enriching Kids entertainment and learning experience on digital through immersive segments that encourage reading, storytelling, quizzes, etc.”

     

    Commenting on the recently signed content licensing agreement with Viacom18 Media, Giuseppe Trapani, Senior Business Development Manager, Oxford University Press, added: “We are delighted to partner with Voot Kids, and support its users learning through reading for pleasure. We commend Voot Kids in its mission to bridge the gap between learning, knowledge and entertainment, and this collaboration with Voot Kids will allow Oxford University Press to introduce even more readers to many of its most-loved books for children.”