Buying for Kids: Increasing Factors Raise Opportunities for Industry

Based on the ATF Plugged-In Series 2022 on kids’ content, a clear shift in traditional strategies and mindsets is at play. The session offered intriguing developments with insinuations of tactical revolution from the likes of Indonesia Entertainment Group (IEG), ITV, and Hungama Digital Media Entertainment.
 

Victoria de Kerdrel, APAC Consultant at K7 Media (far right) facilitated a fascinating conversation with kids’ content buyers: (L—R) Soumini Sridhara Paul, Senior Vice President of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment; Dr Hendy Lim, Content Director at IEG; Darren Nartey, Acquisitions Manager of Films & Kids at ITV
 

On a dime, industry veteran and a familiar face about town, Dr Hendy Lim, Content Director at IEG, clearly noted that his 2022 shopping list, on the kids’ programming front, will majorly be of matured IPs.

Hendy also noted that Disney’s pull-out from Indonesia represents an opportunity for local players to step up. This mention was coupled with the continued focus on linear, targeting the country’s lower income, and rural folks with no internet connection.

The session also saw Darren Nartey, Acquisitions Manager of Films & Kids at ITV, speak for the first time on ATF Online+. Darren is keen on animation that stands out and has a diverse offering, while leaning towards more entertaining and less curriculum-heavy programmes. He also made a note that there has been a huge hike in Asian partnerships in the last few years.

Mentioning a few successful animations, Darren listed markets such as Malaysia, Korea, and India, among others, in his mission to build a growing stable of Asian content. The Asian focus, according to Darren, reflects the UK being “a real melting pot”, where kids are so diverse, demanding the need to reflect all these cultures on screen. Currently, he is keeping an eye out for live action ideas in this genre.

Also speaking for the first time at ATF, Soumini Sridhara Paul, Senior Vice President of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, had clear visions of growing the kids’ arm of the platform. Soumini is set on differentiating her offerings on an already unique model, where content is age appropriate, and entertainment driven. Hungama offers content for those 0—18 years that is split into 5 brackets.

The focus for Hungama is short-format videos that they have started with English and Hindi. This SVOD, with intentions to also offer TVOD options, the emphasis presently is on growing the tween and teen segments, where inspirational content such as biographies are of keen interest.

 

To watch the full session, login to ATF Online+