Gubbare
Overview
Gubbare was a Hindi kids entertainment channel launched in India by IN10 Media Network, the broadcaster later renamed The EPIC Company. It began broadcasting in November 2020 as the network's first dedicated children's channel, carrying the full name Gubbare – Masti Ke Phuwarre, a phrase built around fun and fountains of mischief. The word gubbare means balloons in Hindi, and the name was chosen to signal colour, play and celebration for young viewers. The channel was headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, and targeted children broadly described in launch material as aged between 2 and 14, with other listings summarising its core audience as children aged 2 to 12.
Although it started as a premium Hindi channel, Gubbare developed into a multilingual service. Its original productions were presented in Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu, and channel listings later described feeds or audio in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil. In 2026, as part of a wider consolidation of the former IN10 Media Network under a single EPIC identity, Gubbare was renamed EPIC Kids, ending the Gubbare name while continuing the children's service under the new brand.
History and Launch
Gubbare was announced and launched to coincide with Children's Day in India. IN10 Media Network said on 13 November 2020 that it was venturing into the kids entertainment space with Gubbare, and the channel launched on 14 November 2020, Children's Day itself. Some listings record the start of broadcasting as 16 November 2020, the first full week of operation following the Children's Day launch. The timing was deliberate: a festival closely associated with children gave the new channel a natural marketing moment, and the network used the occasion to present Gubbare as a premium Hindi destination built specifically for young viewers and their families.
At launch, managing director Aditya Pittie described the move as part of a strategy of building scalable businesses and expanding the network's footprint, noting that television remained a primary viewing platform for kids entertainment in most Indian households. The existing IN10 portfolio at that point included the infotainment channel EPIC, the music channel ShowBox and the Bhojpuri movie channel Filamchi, so Gubbare represented a clear genre expansion into one of the most competitive categories in Indian television.
Language, Genre and Audience
Gubbare's genre was children's animation and animated movies: non-stop animated series, comedy, action and fun-learning content for kids. Launch statements promised entertainment built around magic, mischief and merrymaking, three words that also explain the channel's tone. Rather than educational programming in a formal sense, Gubbare offered story-driven animation in which friendship, family and the contest between good and evil were married with comedy.
The audience definition mattered to advertisers as well as viewers. Kids entertainment was described in launch coverage, citing Broadcast Audience Research Council data, as one of the leading genres in viewership in urban Hindi-speaking markets, and IN10 presented Gubbare as a platform through which brands could reach that audience. Initiatives such as a Gubbare Kids Club were promoted as ways for advertisers and the channel to engage children interactively, beyond passive viewing of the linear schedule.
Programming Strategy
Gubbare's schedule combined acquired animated series that Indian children already knew from other channels with international titles new to Indian screens and, from late 2021, its own original productions. Programmes associated with the channel across its listings include Vir: The Robot Boy, Guru Aur Bhole, Krishna Balram, Leo & Tig, Marcus Khiladi, Mighty Raju, Kicko & Super Speedo, Ninja Hattori, Angry Birds Toons, Appu – The Yogic Elephant, Luvv Kushh and Paw Patrol, among others. That mix placed recognisable Indian animation characters alongside imported series, giving a new channel immediate familiarity while it developed characters of its own.
Channel executives later summarised the strategy as becoming a one-stop fun destination through a mix of original and acquired content that had not previously been seen on Indian television screens. The acquired slate brought in international shows, while the originals were intended to give Gubbare distinctive intellectual property that competitors could not simply schedule against it. Executives also spoke about investing in interactive, technology-led engagement for children, reflecting the fact that its young audience was growing up with games, apps and on-demand video alongside broadcast television.
Original Productions
The channel's move into originals was announced in December 2021, a little over a year after launch. Its first original, Akki Jaanbaaz, premiered on 27 December 2021, airing at lunchtime and afternoon slots and made available in Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu, as well as on the network's streaming platform EPIC ON. The series, produced by Toonz Media Group, centred on nine-year-old Akki, who balanced ordinary life with a superhero persona powered by a magical belt and classic martial arts moves. It was promoted as India's first magical martial arts superhero for children, and as a role model character created specifically for young Indian viewers.
Two further originals followed in the same creative push. Roro Aur Hero – Bhoot Mast Zabardast paired a street-smart, mischievous boy, Roro, with Hero, a dramatic and chaotic ghost friend whose attempts to help often created fresh problems before the pair solved them together. Akul Nakul – The Asuras explored friendship, family and good versus evil through comedy and its young central characters. Together the three titles marked what the channel's content leadership called a significant milestone: a shift from relying on acquisitions to building a library of owned characters and stories in multiple languages.
Network and Ownership
Gubbare was owned by IN10 Media Network, the Mumbai-based media company led by managing director Aditya Pittie. Within the network it sat alongside EPIC, ShowBox and Filamchi at launch, and later alongside the Hindi general entertainment channels Ishara and Nazara TV. That portfolio gave IN10 a presence in infotainment, music, regional movies, general entertainment and, with Gubbare, children's television.
The corporate story changed in the mid-2020s when IN10 Media Network rebranded itself as The EPIC Company and then consolidated its channels under a unified EPIC brand identity. In that consolidation, reported by trade publications including Mediabrief and Storyboard18, the flagship EPIC channel became EPIC TV, Nazara became EPIC Bharat, Filamchi became EPIC Bhojpuri, ShowBox became EPIC Music, Ishara continued in the family as EPIC Parivaar, and Gubbare became EPIC Kids. Aditya Pittie presented the consolidation as a move to simplify how the company operated and presented itself, while keeping each channel's individual identity within a more integrated content ecosystem spanning television, digital and films.
Availability and Digital Presence
Gubbare was widely distributed on Indian pay television platforms. Channel information shared on its own video platforms listed it on Tata Play, Airtel Digital TV, Dish TV, Sun Direct and major cable networks including IMCL (InDigital), GTPL Hathway, Siti Networks, Fastway and UCN, each with its own channel number, and viewers were advised to contact their local cable operator for details. That breadth of carriage was essential for a new kids channel competing against the long-established children's services of much larger broadcast groups.
Digitally, Gubbare lived inside the network's EPIC ON streaming platform, where its originals were made available alongside the linear channel and where a dedicated children's section and a live feed of the channel were offered for young audiences. The channel also maintained an active presence on video platforms with full episodes, compilations and movies built around its original characters, including Roro Aur Hero and Akki Jaanbaaz, extending catch-up and on-demand viewing well beyond the broadcast schedule.
Audience Engagement and Marketing
Marketing for Gubbare's originals was designed for children who move easily between television and phones. The launch of Akki Jaanbaaz was supported by a high-intensity campaign that included Instagram filters, augmented and virtual reality character experiences and a dance challenge through which children could win merchandise. The Gubbare Kids Club, promoted from launch, offered a further route for interactivity and for brands seeking association with the channel.
Two years after launch, channel executive Brian D'Costa, who led content and strategy for Gubbare, described the journey as building a one-stop fun destination against legacy broadcasters with far larger libraries. He pointed to the introduction of international shows and then to the originals as the channel's way of leaving a mark in the genre, and described Gubbare candidly as still the young entrant in the category with ambitions to become a trendsetter through disruptive but entertaining content for its target group.
From Gubbare to EPIC Kids
The Gubbare name came to an end not because the children's service closed, but because its owner reorganised. Channel listings record the rebrand to EPIC Kids on 1 April 2026, following The EPIC Company's unified brand announcement under which Gubbare became EPIC Kids. The service continued with the same multilingual children's proposition and with the original characters created under the Gubbare banner, including Akki Jaanbaaz, Roro Aur Hero and Akul Nakul – The Asuras, carried into the new identity.
That ending makes Gubbare a distinct chapter in recent Indian television history: a channel launched on Children's Day 2020 by an ambitious independent network, built first on smart acquisitions and then on owned Indian animation, and finally folded into a single-word parent brand. For viewers who grew up with its Masti Ke Phuwarre tagline, the balloons of Gubbare were the first identity of what then continued on screen as EPIC Kids.
