WBD sends Chhota Bheem and friends back to school, one million kids at a time

MUMBAI: Forget the television remote. Warner Bros. Discovery has decided the real battle for young hearts and minds happens in the classroom, not the living room, and it has been fighting that battle for 19 years running. The 2026 edition of its School Contact Programme, kicked off in August, is now marching through 1,400 schools across 18 cities, putting POGO and Cartoon Network characters directly in front of 1 million children. That is not a marketing campaign. That is a full-blown national tour, and it has quietly become India’s largest school outreach initiative in kids’ entertainment.

The geography alone tells a story of ambition. This year’s rollout stretches from Delhi NCR to Dehradun, Patna, Chandigarh, Kochi, Vijayawada, Vizag, Hyderabad, Indore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Kanpur, Lucknow, Chennai and Surat, running from August through to October. That is metro India and small-town India in the same breath, a reach few kids’ entertainment brands anywhere can claim.

The content itself has been split cleverly by network. POGO’s ‘Heroes of Kindness’ nudges children towards empathy, teamwork and small everyday acts of goodness. Cartoon Network’s ‘Titans of Tomorrow’ does the opposite job, pushing kids to think creatively, build confidence and act like changemakers rather than passive viewers. Both are packaged as a tight, 40-minute immersive in-school experience: interactive games, character-led activities, audio-visual moments and challenges built around firm favourites like Chhota Bheem, Little Singham, Sampat Champat, Omi, Teen Titans, Kian and Kiki, and Ben 10.

janhavi vyas, head of marketing for south Asia at Warner Bros. Discovery, frames the programme as more than nostalgia marketing. Her argument is that the strongest brand connections happen when children meet characters both on screen and beyond it, and that this programme deepens that bond across an entire generation while quietly instilling values of kindness, teamwork, creativity and confidence. tanaz mehta, head of advertising revenues for South Asia, adds the commercial rationale: the programme gives advertising partners a rare, trusted and highly interactive route into the lives of children and families, one television spots simply cannot replicate.

That commercial logic shows up clearly in the sponsor roster. POGO’s Heroes of Kindness is presented by YiPPee! Noodles, co-powered by Act II Popcorn, Parle Candy Culture and Arun Ice Creams, with Santoor Hand Wash and Ziggy Donut Cake as associate sponsors. Cartoon Network’s Titans of Tomorrow is presented by Britannia Cakes, co-powered by Dettol and Candyman, with Bauli Moonfils as snack partner. That is a genuinely blue-chip line-up of consumer brands willing to pay to stand next to Chhota Bheem and company, and it confirms just how much equity WBD’s kids’ portfolio still commands in India.

The bigger picture matters too. WBD’s kids’ network in India runs Cartoon Network, POGO and Discovery Kids across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, with POGO also available in Marathi, carrying a slate that spans homegrown hits like Chhota Bheem and Little Singham alongside global names such as Ben 10, Teen Titans Go!, Dragon Ball and the evergreen Tom and Jerry. Nineteen years in, the School Contact Programme is no longer just an activation. It is proof that in a market this young and this fragmented, the brand that shows up in person, armed with familiar characters and real experiences, still wins the loyalty that screens alone cannot buy.