Gaming
Tooning on the worldwide web
‘Come on girls, queue up in a single file and head to the computer lab,’ was a line my school teacher used once a fortnight.
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In the not-so-long-ago school days, kids had the ‘privilege’ to access the computer (minus the internet connection of course) for just an hour a week or sometimes a fortnight.
Today, it’s a world away from all that. Tech-savvy kids are now in abundance and many a tween probably knows the whole kit and caboodle surrounding the worldwide web (WWW) far more than their parents.
This is an opportunity that kids’ channels are logging on to big time.
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Kids are now extending their enjoyment of TV viewing by finding their favourite characters and games on the channels’ websites. No children’s TV channel is without its corresponding web world brimming with games, contests and the paraphernalia that kids are interested in.
While from the leaders in the space, Cartoon Network, to the homegrown Hungama TV, everyone is vying for maximum eyeballs on television; they are also doing so for mouse-clicks!
Oftentimes, the URL of the website is flashed on the channels during commercials or during a contest promotion. taking it even further, Nick’s on-air channel ID has its website URL as a permanent fixture. Downloadable games, wallpapers, interactivity, contests, blogs and what not! It’s all there. Affiliated websites also provide additional information relating to favorite TV shows with special microsites dedicated to characters and shows. Turner’s two channels Cartoon Network and Pogo have separate websites – www.cartoonnetworkindia.com and www.pogotv.com; Disney India’s website www.disneyin.com has microsites for the Disney Channel and Toon Disney. Hungama TV’s website is called www.hungamatv.com. Animax and Nick are the two channels that don’t have an India-specific website. These channel’s websites – www.animax-asia.com and www.nicksplat.com – cater to the Asian region. Says Cartoon Network and Pogo India marketing director Vivek Krishnani, “Our channel website provides a fully interactive experience for Cartoon Network fans featuring on-line games, contests, information on network shows and the toon stars, e-cards and downloadable goodies and programming information and schedules.”
According to Hungama TV programming head Zarina Mehta, “The site aims to create a parallel medium to reach kids. This means that the content has to be more broadbased and has to move a few steps beyond the scope of the Hungama brand. The critical factor in executing the above is to ensure that the integration between online and on air content is seamless. All our on-air and on-ground event sponsors automatically get a online presence. We are also looking at developing specific properties to cater to certain advertiser requirements. All priority one shows will have an online add-on component and this would be promoted through the website.” “Animax’ website has TV schedules, synopses of shows, as well as cool online activities like trailers of upcoming shows, celebrity interviews, streaming of music videos (either Animax’s own music videos or soundtracks from the current anime titles on the channel), as well as contests,” says Animax Asia vice president programming Betty Tsui.
Nicksplat.com hosts at least two contests every month where kids win special Nick premiums, movie tickets and videogames under the section “Win Nick Loot.” Walt Disney Television International (India) director marketing and communications Tushar Shah opines, “Since launch, all the contests that we had on both our channels have been linked back to the websites. The websites have been used as one of the entry mechanisms for all contests. In fact, for the Kim Possible Code Tod contest, we had more than 57,000 entries through the Disney Channel India website alone.”
Birthdays are a major hit with kids and hence it is very much on the kids’ channels radar. Cartoon Network too has a property called Cartoon Network Birthday Blast, which is promoted on the website. Nick also has its birthday special. “We allow kids to enter their birthdates on SpongeBob Birthday Bop page and SpongeBob will wish them a happy birthday on-air during their birthday month,” said Tan. Disney makes it a point to integrate the website in all their marketing endeavors. “Birthday Bhoot, our on-air birthday property, has a website leg as well, as did the Tarzan Jungle Josh Contest and so on,” points out Shah. |
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Gaming
Dream Sports sees 100 plus exits after gaming ban forces overhaul
Company splits into eight units as real money gaming law hits revenue.
MUMBAI: For a company built on fantasy leagues, reality has suddenly rewritten the rulebook. More than 100 employees have exited Dream Sports, the parent of Dream11, after the company reorganised its operations following India’s ban on real money online gaming. The shake up came after the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 came into force in August 2025, prohibiting games where users deposit money expecting winnings. The regulation struck at the heart of the fantasy gaming industry and dramatically affected Dream Sports’ core business, wiping out about 95 percent of its revenue and all of its profits.
In response, the Mumbai based company shifted into what chief executive officer Harsh Jain described as “startup mode”, splitting its operations into eight independent business units in December.
Around 700 employees were reassigned across these newly formed ventures based on their experience and interests. However, roughly 15 percent opted to leave the company.
A spokesperson for Dream Sports said many of those who exited were experienced professionals accustomed to running scaled businesses rather than early stage ventures.
“Since some of these employees were experienced with running high scale businesses and not startups, around 15 percent chose to leave and join other scaled companies or start ventures of their own,” the spokesperson said.
Despite the departures, the company noted that the attrition rate is only slightly higher than its earlier level of around 10 percent before the ban. Dream Sports now has close to 950 employees and is not currently hiring, choosing instead to focus on stabilising its existing workforce.
The restructuring has transformed Dream Sports from a fantasy gaming company into a broader sports entertainment platform. The eight units now operate independently, each focusing on different segments of the sports and technology ecosystem.
These include Dream11, sports streaming platform Fancode, sports travel service DreamSetGo, mobile game Dream Cricket and artificial intelligence initiative Dream Sports AI, which includes sports analytics platform Dream Play.
Other ventures include fintech product Dream Money, open source initiative Dream Horizon and the philanthropic arm Dream Sports Foundation.
As part of cost saving efforts, Dream Sports also relocated its headquarters from Bandra Kurla Complex to Worli earlier this year. The new office, called Dream Sports Stadium, brings teams from its various brands together under one roof to improve collaboration and operational efficiency.
Jain had earlier said the company removed bonus lock in timelines for employees hired in recent years, allowing those who wished to leave to exit with pro rata payouts.
“We want people who are fully into the startup mode and willing to work for it, and we will share that reward if it comes,” he said.
Founded in 2008 by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, Dream Sports was last valued at 8 billion dollars after raising 840 million dollars in 2021 from investors including Falcon Edge Capital, DST Global, D1 Capital Partners, RedBird Capital Partners, Tiger Global Management, TPG and Footpath Ventures.
The new gaming law has forced several companies in the fantasy gaming sector to either shut down or pivot their business models, signalling a significant reset for one of India’s fastest growing digital entertainment industries.
