With the launch in Indonesia, Toonz will expand into other emerging markets for kids' television such as Malaysia, Singapore, and MENA.
Global kids and family entertainment major Toonz Media Group has announced the launch of a new kids television channel in Indonesia, which will go on air on November 14. This will be Toonz’s maiden television channel in Asia.
The 24×7 pay-TV channel Toonz Kids will be available on Indonesia’s satellite TV network Transvision. The bilingual channel will air shows in both Bahasa and English, and is targeted at 4- to 12-year-olds.
Speaking about the new channel, P. Jayakumar, CEO of Toonz Media Group, said: “Indonesia has a fast-growing kids entertainment industry and we felt it would be the best place to launch the expansion of our platform entertainment business. We will be banking on Toonz’s 22-year-old legacy in the industry and our strong multi-genre library with 1000+ hours of content. Toonz Kids will bring this world-class content to kids and families in Indonesia, dubbed in native Bahasa.”
Brando Tengdom, Sales and Marketing Director of Transvision, added: “It is a pleasure for us to be the first platform to launch Toonz Kids channel in Indonesia. This is the 1st International kids channel fully dubbed in Bahasa Indonesia. In line with our tagline, ‘Broadcasting at The Edge of Technology’, we always strive to provide entertaining, quality, and educational content for all of our viewers. We sincerely hope this partnership will accommodate our customer needs, as well as become an attractive point for our customers to access Transvision services.”
Toonz had announced the expansion of its platform entertainment business in October this year with the constitution of its new SBU Toonz Media Networks. The company has roped in former Zee Entertainment chief operating officer Mukund Cairae to head the SBU. After Indonesia, Toonz plans to launch television channels in other emerging kids’ television markets such as Malaysia, Singapore and MENA (the Middle East & North Africa). The company already operates kids channels in select key global territories.
Mukund Cairae, President – Toonz Media Networks, stated: “Indonesia has the largest television market and the 2nd largest pay-TV market in South-East Asia. The country has around 67m homes and a TV penetration of 64%, which translates to around 42m TV homes. This includes a pay-TV penetration of 12%. If you look at the average revenue per user for pay-TV in Indonesia, it is a healthy $10 per home per month. Clearly, there is huge potential for growth of pay-TV business here.”
He added that Toonz Kids will focus on edutainment and entertainment shows while also looking to explore content partnerships through animation co-productions with local companies in Indonesia. “We will be actively pursuing content partnerships to co-create premium content, including e-Sports, to engage the tweens and teens besides the kids’ audience category”. Cloud broadcasting and live TV streaming company Amagi is the playout and transmission partner for Toonz Kids.
Earlier this year, the company had launched its own OTT platform MyToonz.
