Vinoth Chandar, the Founder of the kid’s YouTube channel, Chuchu TV spoke about the channel’s content strategy, languages, geographies that drive traffic, mobile device traffic, YouTube Kids app, among others in the first part of his interview with MediaNama. In the second part, he speaks about monetisation through ad inventory, brand integration and other means; marketing and analytics; competition and future plans of the channel.

Ad Inventory and Brand Integration

MediaNama: Do you only monetise through YouTube inventory? Or do you also work with brands to monetise your content?
Chandar: Several brands have approached us, both in the US and in India. We are in discussions but we haven’t started working with brands on our own. We have started working with brands only through YouTube as of now. YouTube does not have the option of mentioning sponsors inside the video. Now any brand that wants to sponsor on any channel should get in touch with YouTube. For example, if there is a kid’s toothpaste company. They should approach YouTube directly to reach us.

MediaNama: How about product placement? Have you considered it?
Chandar: A few people contacted us but we have not looked into it as a lucrative option for now because we are new to this idea. YouTube has been handling the advertising for us so far. So it is better if YouTube handles it for now, at least till we are with them. If we are going to expand beyond YouTube and have our own app where users can download our content or if we go onto other platforms like Netflix, then it would make sense for us. We are in talks with many other partners and platforms. We are planning to go onto other platforms as well. But YouTube is going to be our primary focus for another year or two. We want to start more channels here.

MediaNama: If YouTube inventory is the only source of revenue, does it meet your cost of production and give your returns?
Chandar: Yes, that is definitely a concern. That’s the reason we are also moving into merchandising. Kids are asking for our merchandise. We just partnered with Spreadshirt.com to give toddlers Chuchu TV branded characters and merchandise such as toys and as other accessories like T-shirts, mugs etc. They are primarily based in the US and Canada but they ship worldwide. We are also in talks with several Indian companies to partner with us in delivering our merchandise. That is one additional means of revenue.

Our viewership is high in the US But we get considerable number of views even from India. We are not targeting markets for our merchandise only based on revenue. In terms of views, if the US gives us 10 million then India will give us 6 million. In that sense, India is as important for us. We are also going to start DVD production. There is a large demand for our DVDs. I get about 15-20 mail everyday, requesting for our content to be released as DVDs. We are looking to go on other VOD platforms as well.

MediaNama: Do you monetise your site? How do you utilise it?
Chandar: We don’t monetize it. We have only one video embedded on the homepage. The site currently only has links to the apps, lyrics to our songs, goodies that we would like to give the kids etc along with company details. The site is just a corporate presence for the brand. It is not a kid’s website. If it is a kid’s website then it needs to be planned differently. We would have to upload our content from our own servers and talk to brands. Then we will be competing with YouTube, which we are not planning to do.