Sign up for afaqs! Newsletters
The network has planned to premiere 24 new series and more than 20 award winning movies in the school vacation season of 2012, across Disney channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior and Hungama TV. New seasons of the local production, Best of Luck Nikki, is also in the pipeline.
To engage the captive audience and meet the increased demand in the vacation season, Disney has stocked 500 hours of fresh content, along with a clear differentiation in the type of content to tap the family audience and the younger age-group.
Disney XD will host a programming block called 'Marvel Universe' including the animated series of Ultimate Spiderman and Iron Man: Armoured Adventures. Apart from this, the channel will also telecast the animated version of Satyajit Ray's Feluda.
While Disney channel will host the Indian television premiere of Disney classic movies, it also plans to air more than 20 award winning movies. In addition, the fresh movie Doraemon in Nobita's Steel Troops will also be showcased on the channel during the summer months.
Apart from this, the network will premiere 24 new series of content during May and June.
"The two shows, The Suite Life of Karan & Kabir and Best of Luck Nikki, have given us a very significant viewership. We will air the second season of Best of Luck Nikki this summer. The show was a favourite amongst girls across the age group of 4-14 years and also amongst older kids aged 10-14 years, both girls and boys."
The network claims to be investing in original content, as compared to other players in the genre. "We produce a lot of shows in-house and integrate local content in many ways. The only difference is that earlier, we focused solely on kids while now, we are also trying to tap the family audiences to some extent," she adds.
The network also plans movie acquisitions and is in the process of commissioning a couple of deals in the near future.