Taking the success of its multiple animation TV series further, Singapore and Mumbai based Cosmos-Maya, the largest producer of original Indian animation content; established its digital presence with its YouTube platform, ‘WowKidz’ which has been the destination for high quality Indian animation shows. Within 18 months of its launch, the platform boasts of almost 900 million views in total, adding over 3.5 million views on a daily basis and is inching closer to the coveted ‘One million subscriber’ mark in the next couple of months.
Anish Mehta
“From USA and UK to Australia, Middle East and Asia, WowKidz has been the platform of choice when it comes to Indian animation content”, said Cosmos-Maya, CEO, Anish JS Mehta. “Our endeavour is to bring in the best of kids’ content at one destination in Indian languages through this platform.” WowKidz has been delivering these phenomenal numbers on the back of the popularity of Cosmos-Maya’s successful IPs, headlined by its flagship property, Motu Patlu which has been the #1 Indian series for several months in a row; and its other IPs – Vir, Kisna, Eena Meena Deeka and the newly launched Bure Kaam Ka Bura Natija, Kyun Bhai Chacha Haan Bhatija.
Taking the brand further, the company today announced its three-pronged focus to deliver future growth:
Acquisition of globally renowned brands on its platform, starting with Hot Wheels Battle Force 5, from Nelvana
The company is following a highly curated approach for its acquisitions. These are targeted mainly for the Indian market and thus Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 from Nelvana’s stable was the first brand for Cosmos-Maya to begin its acquisitions. The series has the right element of action, adventure and an akin to Bollywood theme which makes it the perfect treat for Indian audiences, not to mention the hugely successful car brand that still resonates with young kids and strikes a nostalgic chord with young professionals.
The show is slated to launch on WowKidz this summer and will be the first among many that the company intends to launch. Speaking about the association, head of Nelvana Enterprises, Pam Westman said, “Digital is indeed driving the geographical distribution of our content, especially in important evolving digital markets like India and we are happy to have partnered with a leading local player like Cosmos-Maya on Hot Wheels’ Battle Force 5”.
Setting up of dedicated local sub-brands, in digitally relevant markets, starting with WowKidz Indonesia in partnership with Spectrum Films Indonesia
Taking cue from its rapid success within Asia, the company has decided to branch out into local channels in digitally rich markets, the first one being WowKidz Indonesia, taking its strategic association with local syndication and production giant Spectrum Films. Adding about the association, Spectrum Films, CEO, Rajesh Jagtiani said, “We began our partnership with Cosmos-Maya as their local distributors for Indonesia and given the phenomenal success that their shows enjoy in the market, we are taking our association further by creating a dedicated channel for Indonesia in the native Bahasa language.”
Given that Indonesia has one of the largest population bases in the world, more so digitally savvy internet users, the move gives WowKidz a strategic advantage for its content’s spread. On Spectrum’s part, the company would also add in third party shows from the vast catalogue that they own on the YouTube platform, WowKidz Indonesia in addition to Cosmos-Maya’s own IPs.
Dedicating a development team for the creation of ‘WowKidz Originals’
Spilling the beans on further plans in addition to these strategic initiatives, Mehta added, “So far we have been operating on a pure library mode only with the 700 odd half hours of our own content. With language diversification and third party acquisitions, we are looking at adding volumes. The next logical brand extension is the production of original content for WowKidz. From development of short formats of our own content to exploring possibilities for spin-offs, we have a couple of interesting ideas for the original content creation in this space and will be announcing the details soon.”
Cosmos-Maya currently has three on-going European co-productions: Atchoo! with Studio Campedelli Italy (co-production with Rai TV), Captain Cactus created by Olivier Jean-Marie (France) and a project in development with Gerhard Hard (Germany).
Read: ‘Captain Cactus’ coverage in the AnimationXpress MIPTV 2017 magazine – Spark
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