Mumbai: Kids Media India (KMI), a subsidiary of Dubai-based Spacetoon Media Group, has launched its first free-to-air kids edutainment channel – Spacetoon Kids TV in India.
Spacetoon TV is based on a ten planet programming concept, creating a perfect blend of education + entertainment that covers a spectrum of children’s interests ranging from pre-school to teens. Every hour of the day is dedicated to a planet according to viewing patterns of the age group and the kids can have "Appointment Viewing" with their favorite content in the respective planet.
The group has already acquired a library of 4200 episodes from various producers and studios throughout Europe, Asia and North America and will also be looking at creating an hour of localized content produced in India.
Kids Media India MD and CEO Rajiv Sangari said, "With the launch of Spacetoon Kids TV in India, we aim to bring distinctiveness with our unique proposition of providing Edutainment for our Indian viewers. Though we are the 9th entrant in the market, we are confident that it will be well accepted by the audience and will create a niche in the world of kids’ entertainment. India is one of the largest children markets which have a huge growth potential for Spacetoon products and services. We look forward to some exciting times ahead"
Spacetoon Media Group president Fayez Weiss Al Sabbagh added, "Spacetoon in the last few years has garnered the leadership position in the MENA region with millions of satisfied viewers. Our unique programming format has been a big hit with children & their parents across 22 countries. It gives me immense pleasure to launch Spacetoon Kids TV in India today with a clear focus to become the preferred choice for all our youth demographic"
Animation International chairman Hiroshi Kondo said, "Spacetoon has brought to its viewers the best from the Japanese world of animation. It is our continuing endeavor to provide our viewers with the best educative entertainment. The Indian audiences are mature and quality conscience, therefore it is important to provide products that are technologically superior and set benchmarks for others to follow"
Kids Media India has licensing deals in India, for varied consumer products across categories like apparel, bed and bath, publishing, back to school products, eye wear, and few promotional deals.
KMI has signed more than 52 licensing deals across various categories in last 12 months. Some of them are: Zapak, India Times, Bombay Dyeing, Lilliput, Funskool, Portico, Riverwild, Adinath, Bioworld, Velvette, Brand Concepts, IFF, Buddyz and many more. The popular licensed and merchandised characters are Spiderman, Doraemon, Shinchan, Barney and Friends, Hello Kitty, WWE, Ninja Turtles, Marvel Heroes, X Men, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Spidey & Friends, Digimon, Dragon Ball Z to name a few.
In India, the business focus for KMI has been Licensing, Merchandising, Syndication, Promotions and Events for its wonderful portfolio of animated properties. The Company launched its operations in India in 2005, with the acquisition of rights for the popular character Doraemon and is rapidly expanding its portfolio with acquiring master licensing for a range of children’s properties from various sources.
