Discovery gets govt nod, launch of new channels a year away

Discovery has got government permission to launch four channels but it would take over a year before starting their run in India, according to a senior executive of the company.

The channels that have got the approval are Discovery Kids, Military Channel, ID and Discovery Home and Health. Interestingly, only Discovery Home and Health, a lifestyle channel that targets women, is present in some of the other Asian markets.

"We have not set a time frame for the launch of these channels in India. We are around a year and a half away from launch. We are waiting for the three new channels, including Discovery HD, to settle down and establish themselves before looking at more launches," said Discovery India senior VP, GM Rahul Johri.

Johri also said that Discovery, available in five regional feeds, is evaluating other language options to deepen the brand and expand its advertising base.

The new channels, Discovery Turbo and Discovery Science, are present in 17 million digital and analogue homes. "We are happy that we managed to achieve this reach in one year. This shows that our strategy of trying to break the content clutter has worked," Johri said.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/programme-news/item/511-discovery-gets-govt-nod-launch-of-new-channels-a-year-away.html
Source: http://cablequest.org/news/programme-news/item/511-discovery-gets-govt-nod-launch-of-new-channels-a-year-away.html