"Vedantu, WhiteHat Jr., Byju's, Amazon Pay, PhonePe are new set advertisers on Kids": Nina Elavia Jaipuria

The head, Hindi and kids TV network, Viacom18 says September, October 2020 was better than the same period last year in terms of ad revenue.

Every year, summer and winter vacations are the (two) periods when the most number of kids watch children's programmes on television for the most amount of time. So, broadcasters in children's space use these vacations to roll out new episodes of existing shows, and some even go on to launch new titles.

The 2-14 year age group forms the universe for broadcasters. A mix of (Indian) home-grown shows and international titles are dished out daily to keep kids glued in front of the television.

The children's broadcasting space is estimated to be around Rs 600 crore. Nickelodeon (Nick, Sonic, Nick Jr.), Disney (Disney Channel, Hungama, Marvel HQ, Disney Junior), Turner (Pogo, CNW), Sony (Sony Yay!), Discovery (D Kids), and Sun Network (Chutti TV, Chintu TV, Kochu TV, Kushi TV) are the major networks at play.

This year (2020), due to the COVID-induced lockdown, the kids were forced to stay at home for the most part. Children's viewership saw an unprecedented growth, and then settled at a new high.

Even during this time, Viacom18 operated (in India) Nickelodeon maintained its leadership. Its flagship channel continues to be the most-watched in the genre, according to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data. Pogo follows Nick, and then come Hungama and Disney Channel. Sonic, which is also from Nickelodeon's bouquet, holds the number five spot.

Recently, during a presentation, Nina Elavia Jaipuria, head, Hindi and kids TV network, Viacom18, shared that according to BARC India data (U+R, 2-14 NCCS ABC, Week 14 ‘20-42’ 20 07-23 hrs), Nickelodeon has 38 per cent network share (viewership), followed by Disney (23 per cent) and Turner (21 per cent). In terms of revenue share, Nickelodeon leads (35 per cent), followed by Turner (24 per cent) and Disney (23 per cent).

Here are edited excerpts from an interview with Jaipuria: