VIACOM18 Launches NICK JR
ENTERTAINMENT/TELEVISION
~The channel goes live on December 11, 2012~
About Nickelodeon:
Celebrity mom Farah Khan unveils
Nick Jr. in India
VIACOM18
EXPANDS THE NICKELODEON FRANCHISE WITH THE LAUNCH OF NICK JR.
Targeted
at pre-schoolers and young moms, Nick Jr. promises to be the smart place to
play for toddlers
~The channel goes live on December 11, 2012~
by Prashant Kapadia
Mumbai, 11th December, 2012: Viacom
18 Media Pvt. Ltd. (a 50:50 joint venture between Viacom Inc. and Network18),
India's leading entertainment conglomerate, today announced the expansion of
the Nickelodeon franchise in India with the launch of ‘Nick Jr.’, an eco-system for pre-school kids and moms. Farah Khan,
celebrity mom and Dora the Explorer, the channel’s cult character, unveiled the
first look of the channel in a press conference in Mumbai today. With
world-class content on-air, backed by a comprehensive consumer products range
at retail, Nick Jr. aims to become the preferred destination for kids from 2-6
years, and their moms.
Excited
about the launch of Nick Jr., Nina
Elavia Jaipuria, EVP & Business Head – Kids Cluster, Viacom18, said, “As a kids’ broadcaster, the Nickelodeon brand today is an
all-encompassing ecosystem for kids of all ages and brands of all genres, to
interact, engage and grow together.” Nina
also added, “Nick Jr. will be like a
surrogate mother handholding kids and helping them learn and develop new skills
and knowledge in a way that is entertaining as well as warm and caring – Nick
Jr. will be the smart place to play for the child.”
Reiterating
the importance of safe programming for kids from a parent’s perspective Farah Khan, Film Director & Mother,
says, “I look at
two factors while allowing my kids to watch a TV channel – is it safe for my
kids and are they learning something new. Nick Jr. is a perfect mix of both;
it’s not only great entertaining shows as well as educational and informative.
My daughters will love watching Nick Jr. as Dora is their favourite toon, in
fact their birthday party theme was - Dora the Explorer.”
Farah Khan Nina Elavia Jaipuria and Sandeep Dahiya along with Dora at the launch of Nick Jr
Nick Jr. is
world famous for it’s kid-friendly, safe and edu-taining shows and is globally
screened across 125 countries in over 25 languages. Each show on Nick Jr. is
created with clear curriculum goals and keeping a child’s growing needs in mind
– be it motor, cognitive, creative or technical skills. With properties like Dora
the Explorer, Go Diego Go, Team Umizoomi, Bubble-Guppies and Blues Clues,
amongst many others, Nick-Jr shows are well-researched and proven to aid
learning amongst pre-school kids. The
channel’s cult character, Dora the Explorer is a huge hit with kids and mothers
including celebrity moms like Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Katie Homes amongst
many more. The magic will win the hearts of millions of kids in India now with
100% international feed with shows that will air every day from 6am to 7pm post
which Teen Nick takes over.
After
COLORS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Vh1, Sonic and Comedy Central, Nick Jr. is the 7th
channel from Viacom18 in India, (3rd under the Nickelodeon brand,
after Nick and Sonic).
On the
launch of Nick Jr., Sudhanshu Vats,
Group CEO, Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd., said, “We’re delighted to add yet
another successful Viacom franchise to our India portfolio – Nick Jr. With the
launch of Nick Jr., the spectrum of Viacom18 offerings now extends from 2yrs to
62 yrs and beyond - an enviable position in our space.” He further added, “With
30 million kids born in India every year, and given the parents’ primary
concern for their overall growth and development, ‘pre-school’ is one segment
that is bound to become significant, in time to come.”
Farah Khan and Nina Elavia Jaipuria along with Dora at the launch of Nick Jr.
Bringing to
life Nick Jr’s iconic characters and shows, the consumer products division of
Viacom18 plans a comprehensive range of products at retail, across categories,
to build engagement with the kids, outside television as well.
Talking
about the consumer products’ plan, Sandeep
Dahiya, SVP, Consumer Products – Viacom18, said, “Given the line-up of
iconic characters on Nick Jr., we’re ready to give wings to kids’ imagination,
through a product range that’s comprehensive as well as interactive.” He
further added, “As part of our plan to create an eco-system around Nick Jr., we
will not only further strengthen the Dora the Explorer franchise, but also
bring to life some of our other internationally acclaimed properties like Go
Diego Go, Bubble Guppies, Blues Clues and Team Umizoomi, in categories that are
both, conventional as well as unconventional.”
Farah Khan along with Dora at the launch of Nick Jr.
Distributed by Indiacast and available in English across all major cities in
India, the channel is available on DTH platforms, like Videocon D2H (Channel
521), Airtel (Channel 354) and will soon be launched on Tata SKY. It is also available
on DAS platforms like Hathway Cable & Datacom, Incable, Digi Cable, WWIL,
DEN and many more.
Nick Jr.
will also have strong digital presence to engage and interact with young
parents. The website will aim at providing useful tips and information on a
growing child’s need from experts. Nick Jr. website will also have interesting
games for toddlers that will be on the same lines as the channel – entertaining
and educational.
With the
philosophy of ‘The smart place to play’ Nick Jr. offers the year olds and young
moms, a place where pre-schoolers learn while being entertained. Nick Jr.
promises to be an exclusive pre-school channel, completely safe and in the
comfort of one’s home.
About Nickelodeon:
Nickelodeon,
India’s leading kids brand and a part of Viacom18, is available in over 59.18
million households in the country. From being a single offering channel in
1999, today, Nickelodeon as a franchise boasted of two channels – Nick and
Sonic and now with the addition of the 3rd channel under its franchise – Nick
Jr. will cater to audiences of age groups from 2–17yrs by providing a holistic
approach offering award-winning, well-researched and safe shows for kids as
well as young parents. Nick being its first channel, has today become the
preferred destination for kids in India, with shows like SpongeBob SquarePants,
Ninja Hattori, Keymon Ache and Motu Patlu amongst many others. The Nickelodeon
franchise launched an action, adventure & animation channel – Sonic, for
the new young adults, from 10-17 yr olds last year. Recently launched
Nick Jr. believes that ‘education’ and ‘entertainment’ go hand-in-hand at a
young age. Nick Jr. aims to offer ‘edu-taining’ shows like Dora the Explorer
and Go Diego Go amongst others on Nick Jr. With the philosophy of ‘Play and
Learn’ Nick Jr. offers the 2-6 year olds and young moms, a place where
pre-schoolers learn while being entertained. Nick Jr. promises to be an
exclusive pre-school channel, completely safe and all in the comfort of one’s
home. The channel will also cater to teenagers in the latter half of the day
with Nick Jr. turning into ‘Teen Nick’. Outside India, Nickelodeon is the
world's number-one entertainment brand dedicated to kids and is viewed in more
than 202.3 million households in 170 territories across the world including
countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim, Latin America, Europe,
CIS/Baltic Republics and the US, making it the most widely distributed
television channel in the world.
About
Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd:
Viacom 18
Media Pvt. Ltd. is a 50/50 joint venture operation in India between Viacom Inc.
(NYSE: VIA, VIA.B, world's leading entertainment content company, comprising
brands like BET, MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures) (www.viacom.com) and the
Network18 (www.network18online.com) Group, (one of India's leading full play
media conglomerates with interests in television, internet, filmed
entertainment, mobile content & allied businesses, comprising brands like
CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz, Newswire18, moneycontrol.com, CNN-IBN, IBN 7,
Homeshop18, SUN18 and E18 amongst others). The joint venture includes leading
brands across television, film and digital media to build one of India's
leading multimedia entertainment power house. Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd.
includes the vibrant youth brand - MTV (www.mtvindia.com), the fastest growing
kids channel - Nick (www.nickindia.com), India's premier International
Entertainment channel - Vh1, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, India’s only linear film
production & distribution banner, and COLORS, (www.colorstv.in) one of
India’s leading Hindi General Entertainment channel. This apart, Viacom18 also
runs Viacom's consumer products business in India.
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