Discovery to launch 3 HD channels in India this year

Official says digitisation of television industry in India has always been at the centre of Discovery's strategies here

Discovery Networks will launch three high-definition channels this year: Investigation Discovery entertainment channel in Hindi, TLC HD World and Animal Planet HD World.

The Hindi one will have dubbed shows related to true stories of crime, mystery and suspense.

Rahul Johri, executive vice-president and general manager (South Asia), Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, and head of revenue, pan-regional ad sales, and Southeast Asia, said the Investigation Discovery was a hit in the US and one of its fastest growing channels. Internal research had shown the channel had potential in the country.

Johri said, “Discovery Networks has a global budget of $1.6 billion for content and a total of 120,000 hours of programming. The Indian programming team has access to this vast library and we will choose the content according to the Indian market. For the HD channels, the proposition will remain the same but we will air high-quality shows that the current TLC and Animal Planet channels do not have the bandwidth to air.”

He added digitisation of television industry in India had always been at the centre of Discovery’s strategies in the country since the process was initiated and would continue to be so.

The channels will continue to be distributed by joint venture The One Alliance (between Multi Screen Media India and Discovery Network).

While all three channels will be paid, the HD channels will have limited advertising. As the launch, the team from Discovery will approach sponsors for the channels and their shows.

These channels will take offerings in the Discovery bouquet in India to 11. Johri said localisation was the key to success in case of Discovery, something that the network realised with the success of its Tamil channel. While they may not create content for India specifically, fine-tuning global content for Indian viewing is a strategy the network intends to follow.