NEW DELHI: India's online video platforms are united in vying for the attention of the nation's children but divided in their strategies, which may or may not involve the use of apps and advertising.
"Your offering today is incomplete without kids' content," stated Uday Sodhi, EVP/Head of digital business at Sony Pictures Networks India.
"If they like the characters, they are extremely loyal and like to spend plenty of time on the platform," he told Afaqs! ""For us, it's just the beginning and an important business avenue."
LIV Kids, Sony's children's content, sits within SonyLIV and Sodhi explained that he didn't see the need at this stage to have an app solely for children and noted that consumers coming for one particular show could go on an explore the whole catalogue.
But for nexGTv, the entertainment app of Digivive, a group company of Media Matrix Worldwide, a children's app is essential. "Imagine the kids landing onto content that is inappropriate, a possibility when you do not have a standalone app," said chief operating officer Abhesh Verma.
And that extends to advertising as well, which may have content that is not relevant to children "and thus becomes an issue of what is suitable and what is not". With nexGTv a subscription-based platform, Verma is committed to the SVOD model.
At Voot Kids, Viacom18's online platform, however, advertising is the way forward, not only in terms of revenue but also in content creation.
"We are now creating content with characters popular among kids for brands," according to Gaurav Gandhi, chief operating officer, Voot. "This is something you can only do on a digital platform. Also, when kids get attached to a character, they visit again and again, giving brands the opportunity to leverage this loyalty."
Hershey's, Colgate, Amazon and Kindle are among the platform's frequent partners, he said, adding: "For brands working with us on a large scale, we will explore different opportunities to maximise the return."
"Your offering today is incomplete without kids' content," stated Uday Sodhi, EVP/Head of digital business at Sony Pictures Networks India.
"If they like the characters, they are extremely loyal and like to spend plenty of time on the platform," he told Afaqs! ""For us, it's just the beginning and an important business avenue."
LIV Kids, Sony's children's content, sits within SonyLIV and Sodhi explained that he didn't see the need at this stage to have an app solely for children and noted that consumers coming for one particular show could go on an explore the whole catalogue.
But for nexGTv, the entertainment app of Digivive, a group company of Media Matrix Worldwide, a children's app is essential. "Imagine the kids landing onto content that is inappropriate, a possibility when you do not have a standalone app," said chief operating officer Abhesh Verma.
And that extends to advertising as well, which may have content that is not relevant to children "and thus becomes an issue of what is suitable and what is not". With nexGTv a subscription-based platform, Verma is committed to the SVOD model.
At Voot Kids, Viacom18's online platform, however, advertising is the way forward, not only in terms of revenue but also in content creation.
"We are now creating content with characters popular among kids for brands," according to Gaurav Gandhi, chief operating officer, Voot. "This is something you can only do on a digital platform. Also, when kids get attached to a character, they visit again and again, giving brands the opportunity to leverage this loyalty."
Hershey's, Colgate, Amazon and Kindle are among the platform's frequent partners, he said, adding: "For brands working with us on a large scale, we will explore different opportunities to maximise the return."
Data sourced from Afaqs!; additional content by Warc staff
