Fiction
The expanding Cosmos of Indian animation
“Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive” – Walt Disney
India is at the cusp of a creative revolution. There has been a sudden proliferation of media platforms. Content consumers are spoilt for choice. This increase in supply has peculiarly resulted in increased demand and consumption, thereby giving rise to more such platforms and more opportunities. This has been a boon for storytellers and IP creators like Cosmos-Maya. Cosmos-Maya’s growth is a microcosm of that of the Indian animation sunrise industry. A recent report by KPMG pegs that the Indian Animation and VFX industry, which now stands at $1.23 billion, will more than double in size to $2.6 billion in the next 5 years.
With a market share of 65 per cent in the burgeoning kids’ animation space, Cosmos-Maya is a shining success story like no other. From producing four half-hour episodes a month to producing 50, from having one show to having 15 on-air and from being a onetime service provider, backend studio to a leading IP creator, Cosmos-Maya today is the largest kids’ animation company in India with a 360-degree expansion focus.
Since KKR backed Emerald Media acquired a controlling stake in the company, the last few years have seen Cosmos-Maya attain a consistent annual growth of more than 50 per cent. Its success can be attributed to its evolution from a premium animation outsource destination to IP creator. The report states that the Indian animation IP production business grew by about 20per cent in the last year and currently stands at Rs 860 crore. It is slated to double in size to Rs 1750 cr in the next 5 years.
Digital platforms are seeing a boom in the country. Close to 650 million Indians have access to internet services today. Smartphone penetration has reached the 500 million mark. When we look at the breakup of India’s animation production pie, 53.5per cent is digital’s share. This is driven by content viewing on mobile phones in a country which has mostly single TV households. WowKidz, Cosmos-Maya’s YouTube network, has been a big benefactor of this digital growth.
WowKidz today has more than 26 million subscribers and 13 billion views. An average of 60,000 new subscribers are added daily to the mix. WowKidz had humble beginnings and Cosmos-Maya saw it as a source of additional revenue. It was given a push when Cosmos-Maya envisaged a brand which viewers could bank upon for 24X7 quality entertainment. In just 18 months, it is now a full-fledged business entity raking in a substantial share of the company’s revenue pie. The platform now has 10,000 odd videos of quality entertainment for the 3-14 year demographic. WowKidz has the world’s largest Hindi language animation content catalogue today. The company has also acquired blockbuster shows like Smurfs, Boonie Bears, Omnom, Hotwheels and Simba from American, Chinese and European countries and these are giving back rich dividends on WowKidz. WowKidz has become a window to bring the best global content to India and to showcase quality Indian kids’ content to the world.
Interestingly for India, the classic Television is also still growing. There are currently 24 kids’ channels in India. Another report by Boston Consultancy Group says that traditional media continues to be the media of choice for consumers with an overall share of 84 per cent, the biggest chunk of which is with television. More than 200 million households in India today have a television, up from 180 million in s 2016. This ensures a consistent, pan-India reach of the content aired on TV. What makes these statistics even more interesting for a market like India are its absolute numbers. There are more than 300 million households in the country today, growing ever so quickly. TV has 30 per cent share in India’s animation production pie, but still has the maximum reach. Today TV and digital are both growing in the country. With animation transcending boundaries between the two, we live in a beautiful era of plurality. For a content creator like Cosmos-Maya, both platforms are equally lucrative.
This lucrative scenario has been an enabler of cross-continental partnerships to develop high-quality co-productions with top studios in the world. Cosmos-Maya currently has 5 European co-productions, namely ‘Leo Da Vinci’ (with Gruppo Alcuni and All Rights Entertainment), ‘Berry Bees’, an Italian-Australian-Irish co-production), ‘OPS’ (with Studio Campedelli and Movimenti) and ‘Atchoo!’ (with Studio Campedelli and Cartobaleno). ‘Galactic Agency’, is the latest co-production with Studio 100 France. Cosmos-Maya is aggressively expanding into China with co-productions and licensing deals with the top Chinese entertainment players.
Cosmos-Maya has organically moved into the international content distribution space with WowKidz Distribution. The onus will be on acquiring best in class American, European and Chinese content, the seeds of which have already been sown. We are following a three-pronged approach of marketing, creative localization (which includes voice casting in local language and music) and syndication of the content. Our knowledge and distribution experience of local Asian markets coupled with our creative prowess enables us to add that extra zing to the content and making it ready for consumption. To quote an example, ‘Berry Bees’, one of our biggest co-productions with Atlantyca, SRL and Telegael will be ‘The Dabangg Girls’ in India, thereby giving it an Indian soul and yet retaining its original charm. Glocalization is the future.
Licensing and merchandising (L&M) segment accounted for a share of 17 per cent in the Indian animation production pie. Needless to say, with home-grown IPs growing in number, this is a category waiting to explode. Cosmos-Maya’s IPs like Selfie With Bajrangi and Guddu are very conducive to L&M given their reach and relatability and a full-fledged L&M department has been created to exploit this space.
A $2 billion giant in the form of the Indian ed-tech industry has been given a push by animation. A major need gap exists between the education and entertainment industries. Cosmos-Maya is creating the WowKidz Edutainment App to bridge this gap and bring fun ways of learning to kids of all ages. The same is slated to launch in the next financial quarter. Cosmos-Maya is working with the largest ed-tech company in the country. Ed-Tech assumes a major chunk of the company’s revenues and the scope of business is planned to grow exponentially in the next couple of years.
To sum up, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry before diversifying. The Indian animation industry is alive and kicking. Cosmos-Maya will continue to drive growth of this sunrise sector.
(The author is CEO Cosmos-Maya. The views expressed are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them)
Fiction
Banijay merges with All3Media in $6.65 billion deal
Marco Bassetti will lead the combined company as CEO
PARIS: Six years after acquiring Endemol Shine at the height of the pandemic, Banijay has struck again. The European production heavyweight is merging with All3Media in a deal that will create a television titan with $6.65 billion in revenue and redraw the contours of a fast-consolidating market.
The combined company will trade under the Banijay name and be owned 50 per cent each by Banijay Group and RedBird IMI, which acquired All3Media in 2024. The transaction is expected to close by autumn, subject to regulatory approvals.
Banijay Entertainment CEO Marco Bassetti, will take the top job at the enlarged group. All3Media CEO Jane Turton becomes deputy CEO. RedBird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker will serve as chairman.
The logic is scale. Broadcasters are commissioning less, streamers are tightening budgets and global buyers are fewer but bigger. Against that backdrop, heft matters. The merged entity will generate roughly $6.65 billion in revenues based on 2024 figures, giving it sharper elbows in rights negotiations and deeper pockets for franchise-building.
“Entrepreneurialism, ambition and creativity” remain core to Banijay’s DNA, Bassetti said, flagging plans to invest more heavily in new intellectual property, live events and emerging platforms. Turton struck a similarly bullish note, pointing to All3Media’s journey from a 2003 start-up to a global supplier of hit formats and high-end drama.
Between them, the two groups control a formidable slate. Banijay’s catalogue spans MasterChef, Big Brother, Survivor, Black Mirror, Peaky Blinders and Deal or No Deal. All3Media’s labels include Studio Lambert, producer of The Traitors and Squid Game: The Challenge; Two Brothers, behind The Tourist; and Neal Street, currently producing the forthcoming Beatles biopics directed by Sam Mendes for Sony.
The back catalogue is equally muscular. Banijay Rights holds some 220,000 hours, while All3Media International adds around 35,000 hours, forming one of the industry’s largest libraries.
Banijay, controlled by French entrepreneur Stéphane Courbit and listed in Amsterdam, counts more than 130 production companies across 25 territories. All3Media operates over 40 labels, with strong positions in the UK, US and Germany. The enlarged group will also lean into live entertainment, building on Banijay’s Balich Wonder Studio, which produced the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, and the Independents.
The deal marks a shift in tone. As recently as October, Bassetti suggested that mergers and acquisitions were not a priority. But the drumbeat of consolidation has grown louder. Mediawan has moved for Peter Chernin’s North Road. David Ellison’s Paramount has agreed to a $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros, with plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount plus. ITV has explored selling its media and entertainment arm to Comcast-owned Sky, though talks have reportedly slowed.
