Our immediate focus is to keep pushing new content on existing channels: Abhishek Dutta

The seven out of the top 10 shows in the kids’ entertainment genre are homegrown properties. Abhishek Dutta, South Asia Network Head, POGO and Cartoon Network, believes that homegrown content will continue to unlock new and exciting growth opportunities for Cartoon Network and POGO. 

Hence, the network launched three homegrown shows this year. The channel claims that the new show launches, ‘Titoo – Har Jawaab Ka Sawaal Hu’ and ‘Smashing Simmba’ on POGO, and ‘Bandbudh aur Budbak’ on Cartoon Network- homegrown animations received an overwhelming response from the audience.

As per the data provided by the network, overall, according to data revealed by BARC, the kids’ genre has seen a 29% growth in average weekly viewing minutes, growing from 11.3 million in the pre-COVID weeks to 14.6 million after the outbreak.

The morning and afternoon time bands 0700-1100 and 1100-1500 hrs have observed almost 47% growth during the peak COVID period (i.e. Q2 vs Q1’20). The same slots still dominate the majority viewership as kids continue to be at home. A similar trend has been observed across all genres.

In a conversation with exchange4media, Abhishek Dutta, South Asia Network Head, POGO and Cartoon Network talks about how the year 2020 has been for the genre, recovery during the festive period and plans for 2021

How has 2020 been for both Cartoon Network and Pogo in terms of both viewership and revenue?

This year, brand POGO has gone from strength to strength. Pogo, in fact, clocked one of the highest viewership hikes registered within the genre during the pandemic. According to YTD ratings by BARC, POGO has jumped to second ranking in the all India market. We have launched multiple shows on our channels throughout the year which includes three homegrown properties and a brand new avatar of ‘Tom and Jerry’ with an Indian effect by adding commentary to the global franchise. The year has been really fantastic for us. Even Cartoon Network has seen the highest growth percentage in the entire category in comparison to last year. We have been able to capture a lot of new audiences as well. We have the third-highest market share in the kids category and both our channels have been growing pretty strongly.

Coming to the impact on the ad sales, disruptions keep happening but we have seen some success with advertisers and witnessed signs of recovery picking up with the festive seasons and in fact, the audience sentiment is also helping the industry bounce back. 

During the festive period, both our channels were completely full in terms of commercial inventory.

How has it been on the subscription revenue front?

Subscription revenues have been pretty stable. During the pandemic period, the kids category saw a huge growth because most of the kids were at home. As mentioned above, certain time bands observed a growth of almost 47% during peak COVID period (i.e. Q2 vs Q1 ’20) and these time bands continue to dominate.

How has the second half been for the category as compared to the first half? 

The initial lockdown period witnessed a drop in commercial inventory and this happened across genres across networks. But as the festive season kicked in, lockdown started opening and people started going back to their daily routine, we saw a huge shift in that pattern and that is when our entire commercial inventory got completely blocked. We have seen a good recovery in the second half of the year. 

Have you seen any new categories or advertisers that have started spending on Cartoon Network and Pogo? 

There have been some advertisers who are not primarily kids advertising brands, who have actually come on to the kids bandwagon on our channels.

Apart from the snacks/food and beverages, we have seen some non-traditional categories picking up during this period on our channels. The categories include e-learning/ Edu Tech platforms, Ecommerce, E-wallet, Personal care, Health & hygiene, Homecare, Consumer durables and  Auto which have contributed to the festive period on our channels. 

What are the advertisers' sentiments towards kids' genre post-festive season? 

For the kids category, the festive period is still on. We are really hopeful that this will continue even in the next month because the viewership continues to be high on the channels as the kids are still at home. Usually, there is a dull period in the normal situation when schools are active, there is not much happening in the category. But this is a very different time that we are in. We are going to keep launching our new shows that are slated for 2021 as this trend is going to last a little longer. 

What is going to be your focus areas for the coming months? 

Our immediate focus is to keep pushing new content on our existing channels, which is Pogo and Cartoon Network. We have already launched three local properties and apart from these three, we also launched The Tom and Jerry show with ‘thoughtover’ commentary in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. All these shows have been blockbuster hits for us this year. We will be launching Lambu-G Tingu-G, a new homegrown animation comedy produced by Cosmos Maya, next year. We will continue to introduce our fans to new shows as well as new seasons of existing favourite shows on both Cartoon Network and Pogo which will also include the new programs from Warner Brothers animation and Cartoon Network studios in the US. In addition, we will also both acquire and create our own unique and relatable, homegrown content that offers a local flavour through its authentic voice. We are on our way to consolidate a leadership position.