Discovery to launch 100 TV shows in last quarter

Broadcaster Discovery will launch over 100 multi-genre series in India, catering to the interests of children, youth, men and women, through its 11 networks in the last quarter of 2014, an official said Friday.

Discovery's current portfolio in India includes 11 channels, which are Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, ID, TLC, Discovery Kids, Discovery Science, Discovery Tamil, Discovery Turbo, Discovery HD World, TLC HD World and Animal Planet HD World.

"We have tripled our networks in India in the last five years. Today, we operate in six unique genres through our robust portfolio of 11 networks reaching a cumulative 240 million homes in five languages," Rahul Johri, executive vice president and general manager - South Asia and head of Revenue, Pan-Regional Ad Sales and Southeast Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, said in a statement.

Now, the plan is to go on an expansion drive with new offerings in terms of new shows in categories ranging from adventure, survival, cuisine, travel, space, gadgets, natural history, fashion, pets, auto, engineering and reality.

The shows are scheduled to air starting September to December.

"We will continue to strengthen our leadership and make investments in content, communication and availability across all our networks and deliver an unmatched experience to millions of viewers across urban and rural India," he added.

Among three India productions, set to be beamed on Discovery Channel includes "Revealed: Rann Of Kutch", will showcase the region's geology, history, culture, people and wildlife.

Another show "Revealed: World's Biggest Election" will be a start-to-finish account of the logistical feat of putting together the world's largest election.

Also, lesser known facets of India's cultural practices, living traditions, art forms and natural phenomena will be captured in "India Living Traditions".

Discovery Kids, along with leading filmmaker Ketan Mehta, will present an animation-based series "Kisna" in October.