ITV

Tag: Action Zone

  • Zee MGM to be re-christened Zee Movie Zone

    Zee MGM to be re-christened Zee Movie Zone

    MUMBAI: And that is the official line….

    Whether Zee group is contemplating the launch of a new English movie channel, following the buy-out of its current partner Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group headed by Sony Corp, is not forthcoming. But the latest is that starting 1 October, Zee MGM is being renamed as Zee Movie Zone (ZMZ). The network has also unveiled a sparkling new golden logo.

    When contacted, a company spokesperson refused comment on the current status of Zee and MGM’s content sourcing contract in India. What was offered instead is that the channel – touted as a complete Hollywood movie channel – will now be making extra efforts to air new titles, which had not been the case earlier. The perception Zee-MGM has in the market is that of a movie channel that is not strong on big blockbusters, though it does air some interesting movies.

    In addition to sporting new titles, ZMZ will have weekly bands like Family Zone, Comedy Zone, Action Zone, Oscar Zone etc. First up is a ‘James Bond’ series that will air Sunday nights at 8 pm.

    Earlier, the business head for Zee’s English channels Ajay Trigunayat had been quoted in media reports as saying that the group is contemplating starting its own English movie channel, either on its own or in partnership with some other media company.

    “Even as we had the partnership with MGM, many of the movies on the channel were being sourced from other players like Paramount and Miramax. Thus we can go solo, taking the content from various partners,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

  • Discovery goes in for image change

    Discovery goes in for image change

    Discovery Channel is turning from a staid edutainment channel to a zippy clued in channel come 1 April. Not content with a slew of new programming initiatives directed at specific audiences and distinct advertisers, the channel aims to go south with a vengeance within the next four months. The success of the Hindi audio feed has inspired the channel to launch either a Tamil or a Telugu audio feed soon, says Discovery Communications India managing director Deepak Shourie.

    The new look Discovery, touted as an Alternate Channel for viewers tired of soap and film, will have nine special time bands for women, kids, youth, family and even a special late night band for adults. The bands, classified as Sunrise, Woman’s Hour, Amazing Animals, Discovery Kids, Action Zone, Family Time, Friday Showcase, Perfect Ten, Late Night Discovery and Discovery Weekends are not a new concept though. The channel had proposed to launch the bands in October 2001. Shourie says the channel delayed the relaunch to test initial responses; the events of 11 September provided the other lag. The new programmes will focus on adventure, arts, aviation, crime, romance, sexual behaviour, sports, travel and wars.

    This initiative puts Discovery’s earlier plan of launching two new channels, Discovery Health and Discovery Travel & Adventure on the back burner, as Shourie says all the elements have been incorporated in the new look Discovery itself. The channel meanwhile has already withdrawn content being aired on Vijay TV, and that on Doordarshan channels, Metro and Bharati will be stopped by the end of this month. The new look Discovery is already being promoted in a big way with hoardings splashed across the metros, ads put out in print and on the tube, all created by an in house team. DCI’s other baby, Animal Planet, which has been trudging along at a negligible pace, is also due for a shot in the arm in the next two months, says Shourie.

    Discovery currently has 70,000 hours of software in its library and is adding 3000 hours every year. Explaining the logic behind not stressing on Indian content, Shourie says it costs the channel $ 1.5 million per hour to produce content, an investment that should be worthy of being beamed worldwide. “I too would look forward to programmes filmed in India that could be telecast everywhere,” he says.

    The channel maintains that Discovery is today the sixth most widely distributed channel in the country and reaches over 21 million households. After programmes were realigned to audience viewing habits in 2001, prime time viewership went up by 21 per cent, kids’ band viewership by 20 per cent and women’s band viewership by 43 per cent, claims the channel.

  • Discovery unveils new programming strategy; targets launch of Travel and Adventure channel before year-end

    Discovery unveils new programming strategy; targets launch of Travel and Adventure channel before year-end

    Three months into his position as head of Discovery Communications in India, managing director Deepak Shourie today announced a new programming strategy – ‘My Time on Discovery’ – targeted at both viewers and advertisers. Discovery is introducing programming blocks that it says will appeal to the various target groups at times that they prefer while at the same time giving advertisers a focussed platform to reach key audiences.

     

    The new initiative goes into effect from 1 October, 2001 and is based on studies that the channel undertook to research audience-viewing patterns across demographics, identifying the most popular day parts for each demographic, Shourie said.

     

    Subsequently programmes were identified that would appeal to each target set and scheduled accordingly, hence -‘My Time on Discovery’. The blocks that are being introduced are Sunrise (7am – 9am), Discovery Kids (3pm – 4pm), Action Zone (4pm – 5pm), Prime Time (8pm – 11pm), Friday Showcase (9pm – 11pm) and Super Sundays 7am – midnight); each of which caters to different groups.     

     

    NEW CHANNELS: Shourie also revealed that two new channels Discovery Health and Discovery Travel and Adventure would be rolled out in India in the coming 12 months. “We are trying to have the launch of Discovery Travel and Adventure by the end of the year but there is no certainty of that happening,” Shourie said.

     

    Discovery channels dubbed in southern Indian languages were also being planned, Shourie said. At present the network offers a 24-hour parallel Hindi audio feed in addition to an English audio feed.

     

    Discovery Channel India, which launched in 1995, is a 24-hour pay channel, reaching over 21 million homes throughout India according to company estimates. Discovery also airs as a block on Vijay TV, every Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM and 3 PM to 5 PM on Saturday in addition to an afternoon slot on national broadcaster Doordarshan’s Metro channel. Available via PanAmSat IV, the network is operated and managed by Discovery Communications, Inc.

     

    In addition to Discovery, the company also beams Animal Planet, a joint venture with BBC. Animal Planet was launched in India in March 1999 but is still struggling to establish itself. Asked about this Shourie admitted as much and said the channel “needed to be repositioned, restrategised and repromoted.” He however could offer no answers on how this was to be managed.