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NEW
DELHI: Factual entertainment network Discovery has launched
in India its kids channel, Discovery Kids, to fight in a genre
that is struggling to push up revenues amidst strong competition.
Discovery's
eighth channel in India will be in three languages –
English, Hindi, and Tamil. Discovery Kids is priced at Rs
13.75 in analogue and a little over Rs 6 in digital.
Discovery
General Manager (South Asia) Rahul Johri said that the channel
was aimed at children between 4 and 11 years from amongst
the 370 million children under 14 years of age.
Most
of the programmes on the channel are in animation but some
are in live action. Some of the shows are aimed at children
aged between four to six years. The mid-morning is reserved
for these young ones, while the other programmes will be aired
later in the evening.
Discovery Kids is already running in Latin America and in
the Asia Pacific region from the Philippines, but the Indian
channel will have several indigenously produced programmes.
Johri
said research had shown parents wanted a kids channel that
had programming they could trust. Hence, the tagline ‘Ignite
your imagination’.
Johri
told that the channel is presently available only on Videocon
D2H and Dish TV among the DTH platforms, but will shortly
be available on other platforms too.
While pointing out that the channel will not take advertising
immediately but will do so within a month or so, he did not
agree that there was a slowdown in advertising. “In any
case, we are here for a long haul”, he added. He felt
that experience from the other Discovery channels had shown
that it was a healthy market.
Johri said that the channel would use all its usual methods
for advertising the new channel, not only on its own channels
but on others as well. However, he refused to divulge any
figures about the advertising budget.
Positioned
as a factual channel, Discovery Kids has no plans at present
to take fictional stories. However, he did not rule out taking
tales from the Panchtantra since they were moral in nature.
The research had covered focused groups in all the major cities.
“Discovery Kids will offer Indian children an entertaining
way to satisfy their natural curiosity and promises to ignite
their imagination through stimulating programming. It will
form the bedrock for development of their social, cognitive,
emotional and personal skills. The channel will usher in a
new wave of kids’ entertainment in India – one which
will have them engaged and their parents satisfied,”
he said.
The channel will have some shared content from the Latin American
or Asia Pacific channels but will also have some indigenous
stories. Johri said some of the animation was also being done
in India. The channel will be working on more Indian shows
in the near future.
Discovery Kids website will launch next week. Discovery already
runs the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery
Turbo, Discovery Science, Discovery HD, and Discovery Tamil
Nadu.
The channel will cover a variety of programming ranging from
iconic global content to multiple India-themed series. Committed
to offer a comprehensive viewing experience and cater to diverse
demands of Indian kids, the programming formats will include
highest-quality animation and engaging live action series
under multiple genres such as adventure, mythology, nature,
history and science.
The core values of Discovery Kids include playful (by stimulating
learning and imagination in a fun and innovative way), smart
(by giving creative surprises for enquiring minds), transformative
(by providing an immersive world that sparks wonder and curiosity)
and learning (by creating a trusting and engaging environment).
Discovery Kids' programming slate features fun, enriching
and entertaining programmes such as Kim, Rudyard Kipling’s
famous hero; Adiboo Adventure (unveils all the puzzling questions
that can bother a kid’s mind); and The Legend of Enyo
(takes kids on a spectacular journey of fantasy, fun and wild
adventure); and Gali Cricket that takes on a whole new exciting
and colourful avatar in the unique animation series Howzzatt.
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