10th March, 2014 |© Spatial Access Private Limited

Kids genre is a priority genre – No kidding!

If you thought cartoon channels are for kids then you can be terribly mistaken. Nearly 4

out of 10 viewers more than 14 years of age watch Cartoon Network, Pogo, Disney and

Hungama TV.

Before satellite channels were introduced, Doordarshan was the only channel to

broadcast cartoons for the younger audience. Today we have 14 channels in this genre.

Kids genre today is considered a mature genre that ranks third in the viewership pie after

the Hindi General Entertainment (GEC) and Hindi Movies channels.

Kids channels offer programming that appeals to different age groups from school going

(4 – 10 years), teens (10 – 12 years) to early teens (13 – 14 years). Kids channel have

higher viewership than News and Music channels. The continued investments in

launching new channels and content prove that the kids’ entertainment space is indeed a

very viable market.

10th March, 2014 |© Spatial Access Private Limited

Since this category caters to over 370 million children

in the 4 – 14 age group, along with their parents

[particularly mothers], this gives immense opportunity

to advertisers, especially those who try and reach out

to parents through their children.

Children play a vital role in the decision-making

process for purchases and parents are increasingly

looking at children as representatives of the new

world and latest technology.

This offers a variety of opportunity for advertisers to engage with children on channels

that are dedicated to them. Children are more receptive to products recommended by

their favorite cartoon characters.

Therefore, not only traditional advertisers (FMCG or children’s products), but also non-

traditional advertisers (automobiles, electronics, finance & telecom) target this platform.

There are a couple of benefits for the advertisers when they advertise on Kids channel.

First there is some spillover of adult viewership and secondly these channels are relatively

cheaper as compared to other channels. Also children’s genre witnesses an increase of

around 20 percent in viewership during the summer vacation for schools in India. This

gives broadcasters the opportunity to generate enhanced revenues during this period.

At present there are more than 100 advertisers in children's channels and over 400

brands which continue to grow. As children play a bigger role in decision making at

homes, we will see more & more advertisers clustering to this genre.

An insight by Jigish Mehta, Media Manager at Spatial Access Pvt. Ltd