These are good times for Indian animation, in both, India and abroad. With the diminishing global and western kids population, Asia, and particularly India, becomes the largest ‘kids market’ in the world, and holds immense potential for the future.
The traditional Indian kid’s broadcasters are venturing out of their comfort zone and experimenting with new genres. With the fierce competition, they are trying new programming strategies. 2017 will also see more TV and digital broadcasters in India. To match the competition, they are collaborating with top creative/production studios in India to produce new and exciting content.
Since the last five to six years, the Indian audience has been exposed to country relevant content (a popular example is the animated series on the traditional Indian character Chotta Bheem), which reflect the lifestyle and sensibilities of the Indian mindset. By 2017, we would see an increased demand for animated shows with an Indian body and heart. The emergence of the digital broadcasters will create a two-way enrichment of kids content produced for India; the traditional broadcasters exploring new styles to retain their audience, and the digital broadcasters exploiting fresh content to attract loyal fans towards their platforms.
These are good times for the animation studios as well. There is an overwhelming need for fresh content in the market. With the drastic increase in the number of broadcasters, there is enough space for everyone who creates good content. For Toonz Media Group, in particular, 2017 would be a year when we would see a booming growth in our production.
The current Indian audience is showing an increased interest in consuming digital content, especially since timing is an issue in the busy modern schedules, and digital content can be watched at consumer’s convenience. We expect growth in geometric proportion in our own digital channels which are watched by an audience not only in India but in over 200 countries across the world. Hence, 2017 is expected to be a pivotal year in terms of global consumption of Indian animated content through the digital platforms.
Having said all this, only time can tell what this year truly holds for Indian animation for these are times of fleeting trends.
