A big challenge that working-from-home parents have during the lockdown is to keep their children busy. Close on the heels of Voot and Disney+, streaming service Zee5 today launched a dedicated offering for kids with content across nine languages.
Zee5 Kids has more than 4000 hours of free content across English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam and Bhojpuri with a mix of original and licensed content coming from Lionsgate and animation firm Cosmos Maya.
The content would also include three Zee5 Kids originals, Gadget Guru, Guddu and Bapu. The first of these is an animated series based on a superhero character while the second follows the life of a lion and his troupe of friends who fight evil and the third is an educational series that provides information about Mahatma Gandhi and his life’s work.
In a press statement, Zee5 says that the new offering would be completely kids-friendly though there is no word around the need for parental controls or profiles. At the moment, the app only allows parents to choose from a “complete restrictions” set of content and one for children aged up to 13 years or another one for kids aged between 13 and 18.
Zee5’s programming head Aparna Acharekar says Zee5 Kids is a confluence of entertainment and learning needs laid out in a child-safe environment. “The framework has been securely curated keeping in perspective the use of devices and exposure to unlimited information that kids have these days with digital platforms,” she says in the statement.
Additionally, Zee5 Kids would also be educating parents on the content slate, features and safety precautions through a series of blogs, stories and tutorials, besides hosting live chats with mental health experts, nutritionists and life coaches to provide parenting advice.
