The animation industry is quiet likely going to be singing songs of praises for the new information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar. The reason: he is pushing his ministry officials and those at the Prasar Bharati and make the pubcaster competitive with the private TV channels, according to an IANS report.
The report says that Javadekar is keen to see DD’s shows to be amongst the top watched in India. He is keen to see animation shows broadcast on the state-owned broadcaster sooner than later. His wish list includes: a kid’s channel to be followed by an animation channel. No time frame has been announced, but Prasar Bharti CEO Jawahar Sircar is known to be a man in a hurry too. He has been quite vocal about getting the pubcasters DD and AIR a lot more independence.
If the kid’s and animation channels do pop up and if they do give preference to shows produced by Indian animation studios, it could well be music to the industry’s ears and could boost its potential. The reason: even as international channels such as Cartoon Network, Nick, Hungama, Disney, have been picking locally produced animation content they have been extremely picky and choosy and have limited slots available for domestic content. That has resulted in limited showcasing opportunities being available for the Indian studios which have chosen to focus on servicing the needs of international animation producers in France or the US. But even this has been successful only in a limited way.
The US, France, China, South Korea – among several other countries – have seen animation studios blossom thanks to the fact that animation studios have more than adequate outlets available – in the form of TV channels.
We at animationxpress.com are delighted by the initial approach of Javadekar and are hoping the signals he is sending out result in action.