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Why grudge fTV,
when even your good ole Discovery Channel is set to dish out programmes
“that appeal to adults”? These all-adult programmes would
focus on anything from beaches to bomb squads in a band called ‘Late
Night Discovery’. “Put the children to bed and relax after
a long day, with Late Night Discovery,” says the channel in
its new time-band description. Every night at 11, among other things,
the channel promises to take you to “the sexiest destinations
for couples”. Discovery India MD, Deepak Shourie called the
new initiatives the changing face of Discovery Channel, while addressing
a press conference recently.
Shourie was
announcing nine new time bands on the channel. This branding exercise,
which will come into effect from April, is targeted at both viewers
and advertisers, according to Shourie. Viewers will know what to
watch when and advertisers will know when to advertise. Just after
joining the channel last year, Shourie had announced segments on
the channel, making Discovery more saleable to advertisers. However,
this time around, it’s not simply packaging which is happening
but also whole lot of new programming, Shourie clarified. The new
slots are Sunrise, Woman’s Hour, Amazing Animals, Discovery
Kids, Action Zone, Family Time, Friday Showcase, The Perfect Ten
and Late Night Discovery.
The process
of this change started last year based on detailed viewership studies.
After last year’s re-alignment of programmes, prime time viewership
went up by 21 per cent, children viewership increased by 20 per
cent and women viewership by 43 per cent, according to Shourie.
The new time band strategy, which will carry forward this innovation,
is expected to boost the viewership figures even further. And, the
adult block may just help the channel there.
While suspense
is building up on Late Night Discovery for its all-adult theme,
the other slots will showcase travel, health, romance, animal world,
adventure for children, among others. Even as there have been indications
earlier that new channels would be added in the Discovery bouquet
in India, there’s no such move as of now. Said Shourie: “Our
focus now is on consolidation, and not on fragmentation.” As
for Animal Planet, the only other channel on the Discovery bouquet,
new programming and marketing initiatives will be announced in the
next two months, said Shourie on the sidelines of the conference.
Without giving any financial specifics for the new initiatives,
he said the programming cost for the channel could go up to $1.5
million per hour, depending on the content. Replying to queries
on the details of Discovery’s marketing and distribution deal
with Sony Entertainment Television, he said that SET CEO, Kunal
Dasgupta and he would jointly address the media once the modalities
are finalised.
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