Suppandi, Kalia the crow and Shikari Shambu — popular characters from
Tinkle
— will soon share shelf space with their Disney counterparts in the form of games and collectibles.
All set to woo young readers, ACK Media – that bought over
Amar Chitra Katha
and
Tinkle
from IBH last month – is now going beyond the print medium to tap new revenue channels. For this, ACK Media would be spending $15 million to $20 million (Rs 5,850 lakh to Rs 7,800 lakh) over the next three to five years.
Samir Patil, chief operating officer and co-founder ACK Media, said: "We are looking out for licensing and co-production deals to make our content reach consumers through television, films and cellphones. We are keen on tapping the non-resident Indian (NRI) audience and establish an online presence."
Consequently, Tinkleonline.com was created to enable youngsters to create their own content, gather points and buy merchandise.
Patil has statistics backing his optimism. He said, according to a McKinsey Global Institute and National Council of Applied Economic Research literature review: "Households with incomes of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh are expected to grow from 14 million to 64 million over 10 years. Similarly, over 300 million Indians between 6 and 17 years make such moves logical."
Patil has statistics backing his optimism. He said, according to a McKinsey Global Institute and National Council of Applied Economic Research literature review: "Households with incomes of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh are expected to grow from 14 million to 64 million over 10 years. Similarly, over 300 million Indians between 6 and 17 years make such moves logical."
BR Sharan, chief creative officer at Saregama India Ltd, said: "At present, the characters are very Indian and perhaps a bit dated. However, the stories have enough in them to catch the fancy of contemporary readers every where."
In future there would also be DVDs with games, education and animation content based on these characters, while new characters would also be developed.
Chandamama
is also going the digital way. Geodesic, that over the magazine, will provide the technological platform to make its content available on the internet, mobiles and other digital platforms. The stories, close to 5,000 of them, will be given a contemporary touch.