Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Nickelodeon India Unveils Its 9th Indigenous Animated IP, 'Ting Tong'

Nickelodeon India unveils its 9th Indigenous animated IP “Ting Tong”

The new local IP adds to the most expansive and diverse 700+ hours of the original content slate of Nickelodeon

Ting Tong! Who is There? All new entertainment in the Nick of time with Ting Tong!


#LetsTingTong

Every year, Nickelodeon, India’s premiere kids’ entertainment destination, has introduced characters that are endearing and have gone on to emerge as icons amongst children across the country. The comic capers of Motu Patlu, the magic of Rudra, the adventures of Shiva and the mischiefs of the Golmaal Gang have all provided a fun and immersive entertainment experience that has made them a part of every child’s daily life. This continuous innovation, with kids and their entertainment needs at its core, has established Nickelodeon as the undisputed leader in the category for over 6 consecutive years. 

Post the success of its 8 intellectual properties (Ips), the leading franchise is all set to introduce kids to its 9th original IP - Ting Tong.

Adding further depth and scale to the brands diverse content portfolio, the 7-minute animated show - Ting Tong will bring alive short, snacky and exciting drama for kids that is sure to provide unparalleled comedy. The show will air starting September 28 at 9 am, only on Nickelodeon's Sonic.

Update (18/11) - Ting Tong is now available on Voot Kids!

Ting Tong promises to be a fast paced and high-octane comic rollercoaster. The series is a spin-off created around a character named Ting Tong from the popular Nickelodeon original series Gattu Battu. The show revolves around the daily adventures of a fun and lovable character who suffers from regular and temporary loss of memory, each time transforming into the character (person or animal) he sees before him.  Comically catching the bad guys and accidentally becoming the hero of the town adds to the humor quotient of the show.  Ting Tong along with his adorable pet and companion Meeru and the local goons Single Dose and Double Dose set the stage for a laugh riot in this comic caper.

Speaking about the IP, Nina Elavia Jaipuria – Head Hindi Mass Entertainment & Kids TV Network said “Nickelodeon has consistently created winning original IPs, all of which are chart toppers in the genre and continue to get immense love from our young viewers. Creating immersive content for kids is at the core of all our initiatives. Current challenges notwithstanding, we continue to invest in content and have been relentlessly creating memorable content and category pioneering experiences for kids. The new IP Ting Tong is our 9th local IP in 9 years and is yet another endearing character that is sure to create a bond with kids across the country.”

Anu Sikka, Head Creative, Content & Research, Kids TV Network at Viacom18 said: “Storytelling and relatability of characters is most important in building affinity and resonance amongst kids. It is this focus on story telling that has helped us create characters like Shiva, Rudra, and others that kids adore and have emerged as runaway successes. Ting Tong is our first foray/attempt in creating a spin off from our popular show, Gattu Battu. We believe that the show with its unique concept and goofiness is sure to entertain kids and offer short and snacky comic respite which they will love.”

The franchise’s 9th IP Ting Tong will see a highly engaging and innovative marketing and communication plan. Pivoting the media mix to the "new normal", the campaign will leave no stone unturned in reaching out to kids through all possible screens.  From high rotation on air promotions on the Nickelodeon franchise channels and a robust digital plan across the Nickelodeon franchise social media and digital platforms, Ting Tong will be promoted extensively to bring a smile on every kids’ face. The relevant Viacom18 network social media platforms including Voot Kids would also support the launch. Tapping into YouTube with initiatives like the skip button innovation & social media platforms like Facebook & Instagram, be on the lookout for numerous clutter breaking social media engagements.

A peppy music video that will showcase the whacky spirit of Ting Tong, will be released on social, YouTube and music streaming platforms like Gaana.com & Jio Saavn. Further adding to the experience will be fun Ting Tong inspired digital games to transport kids into a world of escape. With this path breaking and innovative campaign, Ting Tong will be established as the quirky and unique character that he is!

Nickelodeon today boasts of the largest and most diverse original content library in the genre. The franchise, despite the current challenges, has been scaling up its content line-up through fresh episodes and movies of existing shows. The channel has recently announced its collaboration with Nick International to coproduce the animated series The Twisted Timeline of Sammy & Raj. The market leader over the last six years has consistently pushed the envelope on innovation by launching shows that cater to the discerning needs of the young viewers. The new show from Nickelodeon Ting Tong is another addition to its interesting content slate and is sure to up the engagement with kids.

Sikka informed at the Animation Masters summit in July that the entire kids network at Viacom18 had seen a significant rise in viewing numbers during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) imposed lockdown. “The numbers shot up across all the age groups between two to 14. We had seen our main premium channel, Nickelodeon touch close to 800 TVTs which is unprecedented,” she mentioned.

She noted that their channels Nick, Sonic and Nick Jr. had a six per cent market share in the urban areas which they couldn’t anticipate themselves. Given the COVID numbers exponentially increasing everyday, and uncertainty of schools reopening this year, the broadcaster was considering to revise their strategies.

Sikka earlier stated that Nickelodeon will keep rolling out important IPs or new content as and when possible and not wait for specific timings or quarters like Summer vacations or Christmas or Diwali. And Ting Tong comes right after this!

More Nick: Nickelodeon International Sets India Co-Production 'The Twisted Timeline of Sammy & Raj'!

Ting Tong | Unending Masti | New Show On Sonic


Ting Tong hai aaya, aur bhar-bhar ke craziness saath laaya! Tune in on Sonic from 28th September for unending masti at 09:00 AM

Ting Tong | New Show



Ting Tong Nayi craziness, nayi masti, aur naye episodes aa gaye hai! Ab tum bhi aa jao. Tune in from 28th September and #LetsTingTong



Spends on kid’s category not proportionate with viewership, says Anu Sikka of Viacom 18

In an interaction with BestMediaInfo.com, Anu Sikka, Head, Creative, Content and Research, Kids TV Network at Viacom18, talks about various trends in the children’s genre and the growth of the network’s channels for kids

One of the challenges the children’s category faces today is that the spending on them is not proportionate to the reach they offer, Anu Sikka, Head Creative, Content and Research, Kids TV Network at Viacom18, told BestMediaInfo.com at the back of the launch of ‘Ting Tong’, the ninth IP for Nickelodeon India.

“While the kids' genre contributes substantially to the overall TV viewership, close to 7 or 8%, sales in the category is not proportionate.  If you compare it to sales, it's not up to the mark of the revenue earning potential and there is a huge amount of imbalance out there,” she said.

Sikka said while a few years ago the genre survived on acquired content from different countries, none of the broadcasters can survive without original local shows today.

“I guess the biggest shift that has happened is that today, no big broadcaster, especially in the kids' category, can survive without an Indian show. I think this has given a great impetus to the Indian animation industry. Today, it's hard to imagine this category, going back to where the majority of the content would come from abroad. Indian animation is here to stay and the stories and the characters that are being developed are able to identify with the audiences. The characters and these storylines are local because the cultural nuances are taken care of. They're able to identify with the story and the characters,” she added.

She said demand for preschool content is on the rise from the past two to five years. The network’s preschool channel Nick Jr, she said, has grown substantially. “Last year, the average market share of Nick Jr. was 5% and today it’s 7%, which is huge if you consider the audiences are 2-5 years,” she added.

According to Sikka, the time spent and the viewership on their channels grew substantially during the lockdown. However, with restrictions of the lockdown being eased, it has gone down by 22 minutes again.

The YTD viewership of the kid’s category grew by 13-15% during this period. She said as most houses are single TV homes, kids were in control of the remote most of the time compared to the pre-Covid times when different people were in charge of the remote at different hours.

Speaking about their latest IP, ‘Ting Tong’, she said this is the first time they will have a spin-off show on the channel. She said in their market research, they found that kids love the character of Ting Tong from the show Gattu Battu, which is where the idea came from.

Asked about their marketing plans in the absence of on-ground activities, she said they will amplify through the network’s channels. “The flip side or another aspect of this particular situation, which has come about because of Covid, is that kids are sitting at home and watching a lot of stuff. Of course, for us, the biggest marketing happens on the channel, considering the number of kids we have. The largest chunk of kids’ viewership is sitting on our own network. The biggest platforms to market our shows are our own channels. A lot of advertising also happens on YouTube and Voot and on channels outside the Viacom 18 network,” she said.

On their content strategy, she said they focus on newer concepts that would not let kids feel fatigued. Rather than bombarding the channel with different shows, they bring one show a year and focus on that.

“It has been a carefully devised strategy, which is to bring in one new show every year and then to give proper marketing push ensuring it gets the best possible visibility both on the channel as well as off-air marketing. We give it a proper space and the best of slots. We ensure it gets the maximum views and time bands to have the maximum availability of audience. That’s the way the characters and shows are conceived. So far, it has given us tremendous success and we just continue to hope that this winning streak continues for us,” she added.

According to Sikka, the kids’ genre is highly competitive in India with 11 national channels and 4-5 regional channels. In order to maintain leadership, they look at the gaps in the category and fill those with fresh ideas and concepts. She said Nickelodeon has maintained leadership in the category for seven years and Sonic continues to be in the second or third position, according to the weekly data.

Unlike others, the concepts of the shows are developed in house by a team and not pitched by a production house or a studio. “Once we have developed the concept, we fine-tune the characters and everything else. After this, we bring in the writers to write the stories for us.”

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Originally published: Wednesday, September 23, 2020.


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