Item: Disney India last week announced that it would be launching Disney stores across the country which would stock Disney branded merchandise (read: toys and apparel).

Item: It’s also tied up with paint company Goodlass Nerolac for a range of paints for children’s rooms, which come with Disney characters. That’s apart from a similar arrangement with Cadbury India whereby Cadbury’s Wowie chocolate bars carry pictures of Disney characters.

Item: Disney has also tied up with mobile phone service companies like the Bharati group and Reliance Communications to supply them with Disney wallpapers, ringtones and mobile games.

Such initiatives top Disney’s acquisition in July this year of UTV’s Hindi children’s channel Hungama. So what’s going on at Disney? Quite simply, two years after it entered the Indian market, the US entertainment giant is on an overdrive to become a powerhouse in India. In line with this goal, Rich Ross, president of Disney Channel Worldwide, announced in September that Disney would broadcast two original local language programmes on its Indian channels. In the same month, Disney India tied up with publishing company Infomedia India to launch children’s magazine, Disney Adventures.

Clearly, Disney India is on a roll and the excitement is palpable at the swank premises of the company’s office at Peninsula Corporate Park in Mumbai. Explains Rajat Jain, managing director, Walt Disney Company, India, “It is Disney’s endeavour to provide a 360 degree experience to children and families. More importantly, we want to give quality television viewing to children in India.”

KIDS R US: A promo for Disney jeans

Till 2001, India had only one television channel for children — Cartoon Network from the Turner International stable. But now seven channels compete for the attention of a little over 100 million Indian children. Although children’s channels clock up advertising revenues of around Rs 120 crore, industry sources say that the value of advertisements aimed at children in the general entertainment channels is well above Rs 500 crore.

So the stakes are high. But the two Disney channels — Toon Disney and Disney World — together have a 27 per cent market share — way behind the leaders of the pack, Cartoon Network and Pogo. Both the Turner International channels together command a whopping 47 per cent share of the children’s channel viewership.

To be sure, Disney was present in India as a brand even before its channel was launched in December 2004. Through half-hour branded blocks on the channels of broadcasters like Doordarshan, Zee and Sony Entertainment Television, Disney’s cartoons were available to millions of Indian children. But, acknowledges Jain, “While we were away, the competition got entrenched.”

But once Disney launched its two channels, Toon Disney and Disney World, it went for the jugular. It simultaneously launched them in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu as well. It has also introduced programmes like Kim Possible and Jetix Hour, both of which have been extremely popular in several countries. With Disney movies and programmes like That’s So Raven and Lizzie McGuire, the company now claims to have a complete set of offering for four to 14 year olds.

A Power Rangers poster

Jain claims that Disney’s regional language feeds are doing extremely well, so much so that it now commands about half the relevant viewership in south India. The latest TAM data in September shows Toon Disney to have a channel share of 41 per cent and Disney World 3 per cent, which means that the total channel share is 44 per cent in the southern market for Disney. Cartoon Network and Pogo together command around 52 per cent of channel share in the southern market.

Meanwhile, Disney’s competition is keeping a close watch on the developments. Says Monica Tata, vice president, advertising sales and networks, India and South Asia, Turner International India, “We expected this to happen. When you are competing with well-entrenched and successful brands such as Cartoon Network and Pogo, it makes sense to consolidate.”

According to Jain, Hungama has enabled Disney to reach out to more children and their families. Although the legal formalities of the acquisition are yet to be completed, Jain stresses that the company will retain the strengths of the Hungama channel, while enhancing it with some of Disney’s own productions.

Disney India is also launching one of its popular shows, High School Musical, this month. The show is about a basketball player and a scholarly student who dream of becoming singers. Says Nachiket Pantvaidya, head of programming and production, “High School Musical symbolises values that Disney believes children should have — values like following one’s dreams and believing in oneself.” The company has Indianised the show by introducing Hindi songs.

The launch of High School Musical is to be followed by a nationwide music video dance contest. Called My School Rocks, it will be offered to 500 schools in Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Ahmedabad and Amritsar. The schools will be presented with a High School Musical kit, complete with a VCD, lyric sheets and instructional dance moves. The winning school’s team will star in a special My School Rocks music video which will premiere on a Disney channel in December. According to Jain, all this will provide the “emotional connect” between Disney and families with children.

Most people in the media and advertising industry feel that Disney is taking the right steps to consolidate its presence in India. Says Pankaj Wadhwa, managing director, Kidstuff Promos and Events, “Disney is doing the right thing in building the brand in the reverse way. It is a better strategy.” But he warns that it will be some time before it poses a serious challenge to the number one children’s channel. “We have been here for just two years,” points out Jain, “And already, we have increased our viewership from 9 per cent in 2004 to over 20 per cent in 2006. Of course, we have to be competitive, but we also have to grow the children’s TV market.”

Analysts predict that with children always looking for other options, Disney’s channels could well gain a far greater viewership. Says Wadhwa of Promos and Events, “Kids are always looking for something different. So Disney has a good chance.”

What say, Mickey?