Our GRPs have doubled and we are number three in the HSMs: Ronojoy Chakraborty, Sony Yay!

Sony YAY! has some special plans for its viewers. The channel has launched a song with Badshah and their character KickO from the popular show KickO and Super Speedo. Truly a foot tapping number by Badshah for his young fans.

‘KickO& Super Speedo’ is one of the most loved shows on Sony YAY!!Kids are totally in love with the lead character of the show – KickO! Right from his slick-styled hair to his watch and his supercar – Super Speedo, kids are in awe of him, wanting to be like him.

Given the adulation KickO enjoys, it comes as no surprise that the lead B-town rapper, Badshah, who is equally loved by kidshas been roped in for the catchy number. In the song #GoKickO, kids will hear Badshah encouraging KickO to fight for the right, thus making the future of Suncity brighter.

By signing on Badshah, the channel plans to increasethe excitement for kids this summer.Along with the #GoKickO song, the channel will also launch brand new episodes for KickO and Super Speedo.

On a mobile device, kids will get to play KickO themselves while they combat deadly villains and play the KickO and Super Speedo mobile game. KickO will also meet his young fans and shake a leg with them on his 10 city tour across the length and breadth of the country. Also with a 124 city van engagement plan the superhero will greet kids in the deepest pockets of the country.

I caught up with Ronojoy Chakraborty, Head – Programming, Sony YAY! for a brief chat about the channel’s programming plans and more.

Excerpts.

What is the summer delight plan for the viewers of Sony YAY!?

The Badshah single featuring KickO& Super Speedo is a part of the summer delight plan for our viewers; the kids. In terms of content, we have new seasons of all our four shows which are currently on air. Each season consists of 26 episodes, and one episode is 22 minutes each. Apart from that we have 13 movies lined up for this summer. Kids will see Sony YAY!as a fresh channel because of the new content that’s going to come.

How has Sony YAY! been performing?

In the last 10 weeks, our GRPs have doubled.  As per last week’s data, we are number three in the Hindi speaking markets with the highest time spent. Numbers have doubled, share has gone up and the channel is on an upsurge. Things are looking good for the channel that way.

Why did you associate with Badshah for the song?

While doing the research, we were asking kids about the kind of music they were listening to, and one common answer that came was Badshah. KickO has got the swag and so does Badshah. Their team is a perfect fit.

What is your plan to compete with the strong competition in the Kids genre?

We are a new channel. Others in the space have been there for many years. They have built their characters and have worked hard on the content; that’s how they have grown. We also plan to grow and pretty fast. But our journey in the last two years has shown that we have done that within a very short time, with only local content which we are producing. So we hope to continue that and try to reach the number one spot very soon.

What has been the impact of NTO on Sony YAY!!?

The impact of the new tariff order has been uniform across the category. Within the category there has not been a substantial change accept for the changes that we see through programming initiatives, or through other marketing initiatives, within the category numbers have been maintained. It’s an entire transitional phase for the entire industry. I expect everything to fall back to normal in a few months’ time

What goes behind creating original IPs like KickO and others?

A lot of insight is collected from kids. They tell us about their likes and dislikes and based on those inputs we try and develop characters and concepts, after which we give it out to a writer. After many trials and in-depth research these characters and shows are created.