Kids
Disney scores with cricket telecast experiment
MUMBAI: The experiment of telecasting live cricket in a kids channel seems to have worked for Disney. The three Champions League Twenty20 matches got a cumulative reach of 7.5 million on Disney Channel and 6.3 million on Disney XD, demonstrating that the T20 format is popular among the youth audiences.
While the reach growth was remarkable, the ratings rose but still stayed below 1 TVR. The matches, which featured some of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises, fetched an average TVR of 0.16 on Disney Channel and 0.17 on Disney XD, according to Tam data.
Says Disney associate director, programming, Devika Prabhu, “We specifically targeted co-viewing in line with the themes of sports and spirit of accomplishment which is integral to the DNA of Disney XD. And what better way to engage a young fan and their family than cricket. To kick off this promotion, we ran a contest on Disney XD which received about 70,000 entries in a little over a week. It had three lucky winners meet the Captains of the three Indian teams in South Africa and featured in the pre and post show of the matches.”
The channels more than doubled their viewership in a specific target segment. Says Prabhu, “Viewership across the channels more than doubled in the 4-14 TG and brought in an incremental 433 per cent in family viewership. An incremental 2.7 million viewers (up 54 per cent) tuned into the channels across the first two matches (7.6 million versus 4.9 million).”
While Disney Channel‘s viewership amongst kids for the time-slot grew by 160 per cent, co-viewing across the time-slot grew by 375 per cent as compared to the previous four weeks. The slot reached an additional two million viewers, up 80 per cent at 4.4 million, as compared to the previous four-week average of 2.4 million.
| Viewership Profile of CL T20 on Disney | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Disney XD got a boost among its core 10-14-year-olds in the kids genre with a 34 per cent market share, according to Prabhu. The slot reached an additional 1.4 million viewers, up 67 per cent at 3.4 million as compared to the previous four-week average of two million.
In terms of viewership, the slot grew 400 per cent to an average of 0.15 TVR during the cricket matches as compared to the previous four weeks.
Kids
Mukta Arts and Green Gold ink MOU to animate iconic film IPs
Kalicharan, Karz, Hero, Karma, Ram Lakhan to spawn animated shows plus features.
MUMBAI: When classic hindi movie meets animation, the result is a fresh reel of nostalgia with a cartoon twist. Mukta Arts Ltd. and Green Gold Animation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on animated shows and feature films drawn from Mukta Arts’ four-decade treasure trove of iconic IPs. The partnership taps Mukta’s SGM Animation Studio launched in 2025 as its dedicated animation and games arm and Green Gold’s proven track record in building scalable, homegrown franchises. Creative teams from both sides have already kicked off discussions, with the first project currently in development.
The slate will draw inspiration from landmark Mukta films including Kalicharan, Karz, Hero, Karma, Ram Lakhan, Khalnayak, Saudagar and Iqbal, plus character-led spin-offs from those universes. The aim is to reimagine these stories for today’s young, global audiences while preserving their emotional core.
Green Gold Animation (home of Chhota Bheem) founder and CEO Rajiv Chilaka said, “This partnership with SGM Studios allows us to apply our experience in building long-lasting animation IPs to a truly iconic film catalogue. Together, we aim to create animated worlds that are rooted in these legendary stories, yet designed to connect with today’s young, global audiences.”
Mukta Arts Ltd. filmmaker and founder Subhash Ghai added, “Mukta Arts has always believed in creating stories with lasting emotional value. Through animation, we are extending our IP into a new medium for the next generation.”
In an industry where timeless tales never go out of fashion, this collaboration promises to bring beloved characters back to life with a modern, animated glow proving that some stories are too good to stay in live-action. Stay tuned for the first animated frame to drop.
