MUMBAI: The market size for the kids entertainment genre has been growing by leaps and bounds with a  possible target audience of 400 million (40 crore). That’s about a third of the population of the country! The genre commands 6 per cent of the total viewership share on television on an all India basis. In the case of urban areas, the share goes up to 8 per cent. Though the genre’s share of the total television ad sales pie is still 3 percent, the category is definitely on a growth trajectory.

Nickelodeon, as a network and a franchise, has more than just keep pace with this rapid growth by registering revenue growth of 34 per cent with 10 to 15 percent subscription growth and an increase in ad sales revenue by 40 percent in the last one year. Nickelodeon’s ad sales revenue contributes 10 per cent of the network’s yearly earnings. Increases in viewership and market share in the genre has been the driving forces for this growth, as Nick bagged the number one spot in the genre’s viewership for 20 months in a row according to data furnished by the network. This includes the channel’s consistent top position on the ratings chart since the BARC data roll out.

As per BARC data shared by the network, between week 41 of 2015 and week 13 of 2016, Nick and Sonic have a 28 per cent of the viewership pie, while Nick alone leads the genre with 23 per cent share. Sonic, which is mainly on the DTH platforms of major operators, has also added to this growth story, more so in the last couple of months.

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It is the network’s strength in content and storytelling that attracts advertisers to its channels, says Viacom18’s Kids Cluster EVP and business head Nina Elavia Jaipuria. Between 2014 and 2015 there has been a considerable growth in number of advertisers. “While kids contribute to 3 per cent of the ad sales pie, I am happy to share that several advertisers even from the non- kids sectors are coming through more and more to be part of the Nick and Sonic growth journey,” informs Jaipuria with a smile.

This growth in advertisers is aided by the wholesome advertising solutions that the network can provide. These solutions range from Free Commercial Time (FCT), merchandising offers, non-FCT, on ground amplification of campaigns and licensing and in film branding. The network says that it can tailor such solutions for brands based on their requirements.

“Most of the significant growth has come from yield and ER growth, signifying that it’s the rates that are doing well for us. Having said that, we have also made great inroads in the non-FCT part of the ad sales pitch, because of the flexibility we have with the number of characters. We offer licensing deals to our advertisers as part of the package which allows them to use our resources more flexibly,” Jaipuria shares, while laying stress on the need to optimally monetise IPs. She also cites example of the several branded integrations and in film placements that channel has carried out for brands like Horlicks, Britannia, Boost, etc.

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While Non FCT alone won’t sustain the channels ad revenue wise, it will definitely supplement their revenue growth and offerings for the advertisers while engaging kids at the same time.

Nickelodeon has also seen a jump of 60 per cent in its merchandising business going from 20 categories to 40 categories, out of which the ‘Back To School’ range of products will soon hit the markets this summer.

A combined growth in ER, ancillary revenue,  subscription revenue and ad sales revenue has pushed up  the topline for the network, which in turn has helped the network push up its bottom line as well i e,  EBITDA tripled three years in a row.  “I am happy to say that it has grown by three times in two years in row. We are now a significant profit contributor to Viacom 18,” states a jubilant Jaipuria before signing off.

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