MUMBAI: Kids channels have lined up an aggressive programming slate to cash in on the summer vacations, a season of the year when their core TG (4-14 years) gets unhindered access to television leading to a spike in the overall genre share.

As part of its summer lineup, Disney Network will be rolling out500 hours of programming across Disney Channel, Disney XD and

Hungama.

“We are rolling out 500 hours of programming with a pretty robust lineup on Disney Channel, Disney XD and Hungama TV. Since kids don‘t have any restrictions during summer, we plan to engage them with interesting content,” says Walt Disney Television International India Director Programming Devika Prabhu.

Disney Channel will see the launch of the second season of Best of Nikki along with new episodes of Art Attack and Phineas and Ferbs, it has already introduced The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir that was launched in early April.

To supplement these, the channel also plans to air Disney classic movies from its vast international library every weekend which includes Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland and Doraemon.

“We also have acquired a slew of local animation production which includes Feluda on Disney XD. Along with new shows Heroman, VR Troopers, Luv Kushh, we also have new episodes of Kick Buttowski on Disney XD,” Prabhu avers.

Nickelodeon will air new seasons of Ninja Hattori and Keymon Ache. The channel is also contemplating to launch popular show, Dennis the menace, this year, though the specific period of its launch has not been finalised.

Viacom18‘s new channel Sonic will see the launch of new episodes of Kung Fu Panda, Shaktiman and
 Are You Afraid of the Dark, a joint Canadian-American horror/fantasy-themed anthology series.

“As far as we are concerned, summer vacations will see a lot of action. For Sonic we will launch new episodes of Kung Fu Panda. We will also see new episodes of Shaktiman, the local super hero,” Sonic and Nick India EVP and GM Nina Elavia Jaipuria says.

Also on the anvil is Ultraman, a Japanese Tokusatsu Television series, besides a local production regarding which Jaipuria choose not to reveal anything. The channel launched new episodes of the ghost show ‘Are you afraid of the Dark‘ which is currently on air.

“Sometime in the year we will also launch Dennis the Menace and we looking at the idea of creating one more local production for Nickelodeon as well. We have seen increase in time spent during summer. It’s almost a 19 per cent increase in the overall time spent in the category, while the overall viewership share increases from 19 per cent to 22 per cent on an All India basis and 24 per cent on HSM basis,” she says.

Turner International India, the owner and operator of Cartoon Network and Pogo, has also firmed up its summer lineup to reinforce its strong position.

Cartoon Network has strengthened its afternoon slot with the launch of new episodes of Horrid Henry and Roll No. 21. It will also air ‘Ben 10: Ultimate Alien’, starting 7 May every Monday to Friday at 5 pm besides premiering ‘Omkar 2’ on 27 May at 12 pm.

Pogo will showcase brand new show ‘Mojacko’ every Monday to Friday at 4 pm besides new seasons of
 The Smurfs and Chotta Bheem. It is also betting big on popular series like Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens, Mighty Raju 2, Chhota Bheem movies and Bollywood movies.

Kids can have their fill this summer as channels eye double-digit ad revenue growth from a genre that ended last year at Rs 2.4 billion.