Japan-based entertainment and technology company Akatsuki Inc, looking to expand its kids’ animation footprint in India recently conducted a survey on ‘What Indian Parents Want From Animated Content For Kids’. The study indicating hybrid patterns of linear and digital media consumption revealed a preference for entertainment-led English animation content, preferably available on high access platforms like Youtube and television with a strong community following.
Even with the advent of OTT giants such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney plus Hotstar, 26 per cent of parents chose television, making it one of their top three platforms to watch, the study revealed. YouTube, however, continues to be the leading platform of choice with a strong preference shown by 76 percent of participants, followed by Netflix at 57 percent.
In terms of consumption habits, television (60 percent), smartphones(49 percent) and laptops(24 percent) came across as the most popular and used devices for daily viewing. Parents chose English as the most preferred language for animation content along with Tamil, Telugu and Bangla as the top three vernacular choices.
The animation industry has seen massive growth in the last few years, with the global pandemic playing the role of catalyst accelerating animation content consumption amongst kids as the primary source of learning and entertainment. Sixty nine percent of parents who participated in the survey shared that with an average screen time four to six hours per week they have seen an increase in their kid’s animation content consumption habits post Covid-19.
Throwing light on what makes an animation IP click with kids and parents alike, the survey discovered that ‘entertainment’ is the most important parameter with 64 percent respondents choosing it over ‘What Makes Their Kids Happy’ (45 percent), educational benefits (35 percent), moral values (22 percent) and local characters and storylines (11 percent).
The majority of parents (37 percent) also shared that their kids watch animated content unsupervised. The 75 per cent of Indian parents still rely on the traditional word-of-mouth approach when it comes to choosing and discovering new content ideas for their children, followed by 28 percent of parents discovering content through OTT recommendations, 20 percent via parenting communities, and the remaining 10 per cent via traditional news outlets.
“We at Akatsuki are committed to bringing joyful and meaningful animation IPs for the growing and underserved kids animation space in India,” said Akatsuki Inc head of business development and partnerships Yuki Kawamura.
“We want to thoughtfully co-create our content roadmap with on-ground insights and need gaps. This survey is the first step in that direction, and the findings have strengthened our conviction in the potential of the untapped demand of kids’ animation in India and synergies with our IPs,” he added.
The study was conducted among parents across 10 metros in India, including Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Kanpur, Guwahati, Bangalore and others to understand children’s consumption habits and uncover key decision-making factors influencing parent’s selection of animation content for their kids.
