Sony Yay! brings 'CID Squad,' a new animated investigative series
What's the story
Sony Yay!, India's dedicated kids' channel, is set to launch a new animated series, CID Squad.
It will be a modern reimagining of the iconic CID franchise, intended to introduce the memorable characters to the younger audience.
"We figured out that the age group between 15 to 35 is possibly one of the first generations who've come out with a tolerance and acceptance of animated content far higher," Ambesh Tiwari, head of Sony Kids and Animation, told Variety.
Modern twist
'CID Squad' to tackle contemporary issues
While the original CID series revolved around murder cases, CID Squad will address modern-day issues like self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, and cyber security.
The series stars Inspector Pradyuman as a young adult leading a team of younger detectives.
The team includes Abhijit, a 16-year-old with unmatched deduction skills; Daya, reimagined as a "gutsy coder;" Fredricks, the comic relief; Constable Sushil, a seasoned officer with an extensive network of informants; and Dr. Salunkhe, a mechanical genius who builds gadgets from scrap.
Global property
'CID Squad' aims for global reach with diverse language options
CID Squad is being touted as a global property with 13 episodes of 22-30 minutes each in its first run.
Tiwari said, "The intent is to create a global property that will be syndicated across the world, with India being a sizable market."
To appeal to various demographics across India, the series will be available in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Bangla.
Sony Yay! has collaborated with Toonz Media Group for production and Ireland's Telegael for post-production.
Strategic roadmap
Sony Yay! to expand beyond traditional kids' programming
Another avenue of Sony Yay!'s strategic roadmap, dubbed the "HUB strategy," is expanding animation's reach from just kids' programming.
This has made Sony Yay! a pioneer in Indian kids' entertainment by adopting the mantra of "animation for all."
The channel is also introducing Japanese anime Obocchama-kun to Indians via Japan-India collaboration, and creating possibly India's first anime series on Indian mythology (currently code-named Project K).
Digital success
Sony Yay! continues to thrive in the digital space
Beyond CID Squad, Sony Yay! is working on other titles, including Ray, a series based on stories of Satyajit Ray, and Karna - The Guardian.
The channel has also picked popular anime titles such as Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, Jujutsu Kaisen, Dr. Stone, and Black Clover.
Sony Yay! has been doing particularly well in South India and is expanding its digital footprint with nine YouTube channels yielding over 150 million viewers, and 1.5B impressions/month.