MUMBAI: After having won over avid comic book buffs for 59 years, Diamond Comics is planning to launch a kids channel aimed at the 4-14-year-olds.
The company will exploit its library of 80 characters for content creation. "We will use our brand name as well as our vast library of IP consisting of characters and their stories. 16 out of the 80 will be adapted for animation format and the rest will be utilised through live action format," says Diamond Comics chairman and MD Gulshan Rai.
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The channel will be titled Diamond Comics Channel. "It will be strictly dedicated to Indian characters, culture and heritage with live and cartoons-based animated serials based on characters of Diamond Comics. We expect the channel to go on air by 2009-end," says Rai. |
Also, in a bid to cater to a larger audience set across the country, the channel plans to create content across various other languages apart from Hindi. These include Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Gujarati.So, how is the company planning to tackle its animation programming considering the long production cycles? "We have already worked out this problem. Knowing the complications, we have decided to deal with multiple studios," explains Rai.
Besides rolling out a new channel, Diamond Comics is also planning to launch its comic characters on the mobile platform. "We are trying our best to make our plan operative within a fortnight," asserts Rai.
As part of the initiative, Diamond Comics‘ characters will be available on one‘s mobile screen on mobile service providers - Vodafone, Aircel, Airtel and Spice. While Ramayana and Mahabharata would be available on Vodafone, Tenali Raman would be available on Airtel. The cost of each mobile comic strip will be Rs 1 per day and will be delivered to the user‘s inbox every morning.
