For a kids’ network that is reaching 342 million homes across USA, LATAM, EMEA and APAC what could be more pleasing than introducing fresher content to engage with its loyal audience base and also garner a few more eyeballs on the way.
Well, that is exactly what Viacom International Media Networks, Nickelodeon programming and creative, Sr. director, Syahrizan Mansor revealed exclusively to AnimationXpress.com.
“Nick as a brand stands for the value ‘kids are always first’, so it’s our duty to continue entertaining our audience with fresher content year on year and 2015 is going to be no different,” Syahrizan informed.
The network is adding new animation content for both its pre-school and kids category along with the introduction of a few new live action shows as well to strengthen its catalogue in the coming year.
In the animation side of things new shows include – ‘Bread Winners’, ‘Oggy and the Cockroaches’, ‘Get Blake’, ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ and ‘Bad Seeds’. For the pre-school audience there will be ‘Dora and Friends’, ‘Blaze and the Monster Machines’ and ‘Shimmer & Shine’. 
“Animation is the genre that really drives viewership numbers for all channels in the kids’ genre and we are confident that with the introduction of such newer and fresher shows we will certainly gain further traction and viewership numbers in the region,” said a confident Syahrizan.
And that’s not all, the live action side of things is also getting some fresh content with ‘Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn’, ‘Henry Danger’ and ‘Bella and the Bulldogs’.
Commenting on the live action shows she added: “Our teen audience has also been constantly demanding for newer content and with Nick Teens as a brand it helps us to cater to their requirements. These three shows will have an instant connect with the audience and we are confident they will do well.”
So, having led operations for the Asian market for close to a decade and also monitoring the Indian market closely what are the trends that networks like Nickelodeon adapt to, “In the past two to three years we have witnessed immense growth in the kids’ category thanks to the consumption of content on not just linear platforms but also on second screens, thus we now focus on creating/acquiring/co-
Finally, the network is also looking for more content in Asia and is open to co-produce with local animation studios as well, as long as they can work along the lines of Nick’s moto of ‘Kids are always first’.
“We will also be launching our second edition of the ‘International Shorts Programme’ in February 2015 after the great response that we received in 2014. Out of the 2,000 plus entries that we received last year, seven ideas will be funded and co-created in the coming year and a few of them will get a chance to air on the channel as well; which, if successful, will earn commissioning for long term production as well,” she revealed.