Indiantelevision.com's Kidology
 
 
Sun TV to roll out 3 more kids channels in Kannada, Telugu & Malayalam by 2nd quarter
 
By RENELLE SNELLEKSZ
Indiantelevision.com Team
(28 April 2007 5:00 pm)
 

MUMBAI: Following the addition of kids channel Chutti TV to Kalanithi Maran's Sun Network bouquet, the broadcaster is now looking to consolidate the regional kids space with the addition of three more kids channels in Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam.

Targeting launch within the second quarter of this year, each of the three entities will have content that will be further customized to the given region, says Chutti TV programming head Priya Madhusudan.

Chutti TV mascot Singoo

Initially, the channels will be free to air (FTA). Interestingly, their launch will also coincide with Sun's DTH initiative which will offer regional language offerings across genres. Thus, Maran is looking to completely dominate DTH in the South.

Chutti TV (which means naughty in Tamil), the first of the kids ventures, will hit the airwaves tomorrow (29 April). The four kids channels under the Sun Network will each have a distinct identity addressing topical regional issues. The core focus for primetime viewing (4.30 - 9 PM) will be a mix of Internationally acquired action cartoons, followed by locally produced live action shows like talent hunt shows, chat shows in a 60:40 ratio. These will be produced by in house teams as well as private producers.

Currently, the only dominant player in the regional arena is Toon Disney with Tamil and Telugu feeds. So what then will differentiate Chutti TV from its regional counterparts?

A primetime property 'The Adventures of Jackie Chan'

Madhusudan believes that often humour gets lost in translation and sounds artificial. Therefore, the effort here is to nuance the content with local flavour. "We don't believe in the dub and run strategy, but have attempted to make the content more relevant by tapping into the lingo of the region, sprinkled generously with local humour and popular local cinema stars. Therefore the entire delivery platform will not be out of context for the kid."

It was surely a bold move made by Disney to enter the regional game, but with the mammoth Southern network entering the fray the days ahead are bound to be action packed.

Chutti TV comperes from their live action series

Targeting a rather broad spectrum of 2 - 14-year-olds, the channel currently is not zeroing in on a core segment across the category. Madhusudan explains that it is still early days to focus on one core category, thus there is a little something for every child. Additionally, family viewership has also been kept in mind when structuring programming. This will evolve over time, but for now a broad dollop of shows are lined up, so no segment of this demographic is ignored.

Chutti TV's talent hunt show

The launch phase of Chutti TV will adopt a holiday programming approach, but once the vacations are over, the FPC will age up during the day. To kick start the day, the programming encourages kids to dance and exercise before the set out for school. This is followed by a pre-school centric block. The afternoon 2 - 4 PM block is designed to cater to the younger ones, while primetime will strongly focus on action cartoons and live action shows.

"We would like kids to break out of this 'couch potato' culture and will have yoga and dance shows in the mornings and a Bharatnatyam learning module, a dance form popular among young girls, in the evening." The show will not only teach steps and mudras but will also educate kids about its history and legends. The idea is to incorporate interactivity and make for active viewing.

Dora the Explorer

Interestingly, Chutti TV has acquired a Nickelodeon preschool property Dora The Explorer, which is currently being heavily promoted in the Hindi speaking markets. However, this will only leverage the advantage in favour of Nick, which does not have a strong presence in the South.
 
Go to Top
Click for Kidology Archives
 
Also Read: