Voot Kids Launched as Viacom18's First Subscription Offering Just Ahead of Children's Day: Price, Free Trial, and More

Just ahead of Children's day, after over half a year of beta testing, Viacom18-owned Voot has launched its first subscription-based, children-oriented offering Voot Kids. It claims to offer more than 20,000 videos, ebooks, stories, and quizzes, in an attempt to deliver on its four-quadrant play of “watch, read, listen, and learn” that is aimed at kids between the ages of 2–8 years. To build up its content library, it has partnered with the likes of Nickelodeon, Oxford University Press, WarnerMedia, Green Gold, BBC's CBeebies, TV Asahi, Sony Music, Hasbro, Mattel, and Lego among others. Available on Android and iOS, Voot Kids costs Rs. 99 per month after a 7-day free trial, or Rs. 799 per year after a 30-day free trial.

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“Voot Kids [...] caters to needs of discerning Indian parents who seek meaningful screen-time that aids in holistic development of the child's mental, emotional and social faculties,” Voot Kids business head Saugato Bhowmik said in a prepared statement. “The app has the largest and most versatile offerings in the space of toon videos, e-books, audio stories, and fun quizzes that provides children with a parent-controlled, safe and entertaining content destination. We believe masti [fun] should never be served up without acchai [goodness] and the same holds true the other way around. And this is our guiding philosophy at Voot Kids.”

In its announcement, Viacom18 said that Voot Kids has been certified by Early Childhood Association (ECA). Additionally, its curated ad-free content library — which features multiple-choice questions covering five skill-set domains, audio books from Karadi Tales and Jataka Tales, and audio originals with character-led stories — comes with parental controls that allow parents to “evaluate progress, limit screen time and track content consumed”.

(L-R): Sudhanshu Vats, Saugato Bhowmik, actress Soha Ali Khan, educationist Swati Popat, actor Aashish Chaudhary, and Gourav Rakshit at the launch event for Voot Kids
Photo Credit: Viacom18

“The foray into the subscription space with Voot Kids is the first step in our journey towards building an entire digital ecosystem under brand Voot,” Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gourav Rakshit said. “Voot Kids has been built on the three pillars of ‘product experience', ‘content' and ‘safety'. In Voot Kids, we are bringing an offering that is child-friendly, yet parent focused, and gives them an opportunity to bond with an immersive co-consumption experience. Our brand philosophy of ‘Masti Mein Acchai [Goodness in Fun]' reflects our mission to make screen time meaningful.”

“Viacom18 has grown over the years by focusing on white spaces that are challenging and yet have tremendous potential,” said Viacom18 Group CEO & MD Sudhanshu Vats. “As a network, we have been the undisputed leader in kids' entertainment content since the past five years. Our digital play Voot is the second largest video-on-demand platform in the country today. Voot Kids is a synergy of these two growth stories from the house of Viacom18. Marking our sharper segmented foray into the world of subscription-based video-on-demand, Voot Kids is India's first and only multi-format kids' app offering fun & learning. No other kids' app offers watch, read, listen & learn all at one place.”

Voot is soon expected to launch a subscription offering of its main ad-led platform as well.