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Tag: discovery+

  • NDTV Good Times brings Yogasutra DVDs in collaboration with Saregama

    NDTV Good Times brings Yogasutra DVDs in collaboration with Saregama

    MUMBAI: Did you know that any movement, even blinking your eyes, requires the coordinated activity of several different muscles? NDTV Good Times’ first health and fitness show – Yogasutra is now available in a DVD format, to reveal many more secrets of the ancient discipline of yoga. Launched in collaboration with Saregama, one of the biggest Indian music companies in the country, the DVD is designed as a visual treat so that the discipline sits easy on the eyes and works as the perfect inspiration to better health.

    Yogasutra showcases the art and science of yoga in all its beauty and strength and introduces its nuances, up close and personal. The DVD features short episodes of different practices pertaining to specific needs of the body, helping you align your physical, mental, and spiritual senses in perfect harmony.

    The series is presented by Samara Chopra, a student, practitioner and teacher of yoga who has been practicing the art since the tender age of 13. Samara firmly believes that yoga is a part of basic human existance, a way of being and a journey to discover your true self.

    Talking about the concept and thought behind launching the DVD Smeeta Chakrabarti, Chief Executive Officer, NDTV Lifestyle said, “As the pioneer in our domain, our endeavour is to constantly innovate and connect with our audiences. We recently launched our first show merchandise – Highway on My Plate Diary and now we are collaborating with Saregama to launch the Yogasutra DVD, an extension to the brand’s philosophy of living the good times.”

    Talking about the initiative, Atul Seth, VP –Development (International & New Business ), NDTV Lifestyle Limited said, “In its five years of existence, NDTV Good Times has acquired a large fan following. With the launch of this DVD, we aim to extend our brand beyond the show and reach a larger section of our target audience. Considering the show is about Yoga we have used the visual media [ DVDs ] so that the viewers can follow the exercise and do them when they feel like. The initial pack has the first 3 episodes and we shall be releasing more additions as we move along.”

    Talking about the show DVD and collaboration with NDTV Good Times, Mr. Adarsh Gupta. Sr. V.P – Music, Saregama said,“We are proud to be associated with India’s premier lifestyle channel for their pathbreaking programing initiative with Yogasutra. Besides being an extremely effective work out Yogasutra was one of the most beautifully presented and esthetically packaged TV show in the history of Indian TV Programing. We believe this DVD will find a place as a permanent seller in Saregama’s vast catalogue.”

    Priced at Rs.299/-, the Yogasutra DVD is now available at all leading music stores across metros.

    Adopt yoga as an extension to your lifestyle, a pursuit to self-discovery, wisdom and freedom of spirit; open your world to a novel experience of a healthy body, clear mind and tranquil spirit with the Yogasutra DVD.

  • InMobi introduces App Publish Distribution platform

    InMobi introduces App Publish Distribution platform

    MUMBAI: Bangalore-based InMobi, an independent mobile ad network, has announced the launch of App Publish, an Android app store distribution platform.

    The free-to-use tool will allow Android developers to publish their apps across global app stores in just a few clicks.

    According to the company while app discovery on Google Play is a challenge for developers and users alike, alternative channels such as GetJar, Mobango, Slide Me and several third-party app stores based in China are estimated to drive billions of downloads every year.

    While these outside sources help developers reach millions of users in new markets, publishing to each app store independently presents several significant challenges like- Navigating complex international laws, various platforms‘ widely varied aesthetic and informational requirements, difficulties tracking and reporting download and install figures, the challenges of collecting revenue from smaller or international platforms in a timely manner.

    InMobi‘s App Publish platform will allow developers to avoid these and other pain points that come from deploying an Android app globally, using proven intelligent technology to reduce the cost and effort to submit to multiple app stores.

    InMobi head of product management for developer platforms Girish Prabhu said, “Paying for position and app discovery on Google Play is becoming increasingly expensive and ultra-competitive. The launch of App Publish serves to meet the mass desire from app developers to compete in multiple channels in a simple, profitable way. Early beta testers of App Publish have seen 30 per cent more downloads through these new app store channels.”

  • Discovery hires Laslie Grandy to look at its Digital Media arm

    Discovery hires Laslie Grandy to look at its Digital Media arm

    MUMBAI: Discovery Communications has named Leslie Grandy as Senior Vice President of Product & Development within the company’s Digital Media division.

    Grandy, a former executive at T-Mobile, Apple and RealNetworks, will oversee Discovery’s U.S. TV Networks’ digital product, mobile, development, design and project management teams.

    In the newly created role, Grandy will be tasked with driving innovative product development behind the digital extensions of Discovery Communications’ U.S. TV networks. Grandy will focus on delivering compelling digital experiences that delight fans of Discovery’s networks before, during and after the on air shows.

    “Our mission is to deliver, extend and enhance the living room experience across all screens in a way that super serves our fans,” said Guhan Selvaretnam, Senior Vice President, Digital Media, to whom Grandy will report.

    “With a strong track record of delivering results, Leslie brings the perfect mix of consumer-focused, data-driven and user-centric experience to the team. We are thrilled to have her join the Discovery family.”

  • Animal Planet US launches shows for the Internet

    Animal Planet US launches shows for the Internet

    MUMBAI: Infotainment broadcaster Animal Planet in the US is tackling the Internet in a big way. It has announced its first slate of original web series on AnimalPlanet.com that builds on and features the personalities on TV franchises like ‘Finding Bigfoot‘, ‘Tanked‘, Pit Boss and ‘Call Of The Wildman‘ and more.

    With short-form digital companions planned for seven of the network‘s most popular returning TV series, the programming includes:

    Shorty‘s Top Dog: The PIT BOSS, Shorty Rossi, always has his main man and service dog, Hercules, by his side. But which four-legged friend will be Hercules‘ successor when the time comes for this top dog step down? This ten-episode series, available now online, follows Shorty as he travels to Mexico on his quest to find his future “number two.”

    Tanked Aftershow: Kicking off on 22 Marc, the Aftershow catches up with TANKED‘s Wayde King, Brett Raymer and the ATM team and captures the behind-the-scenes stories about the ambitious aquarium projects they take on in each show. The 20-episode series will premiere each Friday on AnimalPlanet.com

    ‘Hell Cats Revisited: How Do You Like Meow?‘: What happens to those troubled cat owners and difficult felines after ‘My Cat From Hell‘s Jackson Galaxy leaves? In ‘Hell Cats Revisited‘, debuting April 6, Galaxy catches up with the families featured in current premieres and some of the most hellish cats from previous seasons to see if life is still heavenly after expert advice from Galaxy.

    ‘How to Catch a River Monster‘: From 7 April, this returning online series features ‘River Monsters‘S‘ Jeremy Wade revealing how he captures the elusive, finned creatures featured in the network‘s most-watched series. Wade provides the ultimate guide to fishing for monsters, revealing the tricks of the trade that help him hone in on some of the world‘s most mysterious freshwater fish.

    Discovery VP of digital media Miguel Monteverde said, “Animal Planet viewers turn first to our network for their favorite series and stars, and we look forward to helping them connect on an even deeper level with our new online series. From our long-form ‘surprisingly human‘ franchises on the living room TV to complementary short-form web originals on smaller screens, our mission is to delight Animal Planet‘s wildly passionate audiences across all platforms”.

  • 3net reaches 40 mn households in two years

    3net reaches 40 mn households in two years

    MUMBAI: 3net, the joint venture 3D network from Discovery, Sony and Imax, has reached 40 million US households even as it approaches its second anniversary on 13 February

    3net is available across five programme distribution affiliates, including DirecTV, Comcast, Service Electric Cablevision and Netflix.

    In addition to the network‘s specials, concerts and one-off documentaries debuted over the past two years, February also marks a programming milestone for 3net, as the network premieres its 13th 3D series.

    3net said it has benefited significantly from the rise of 3D TV adoption, with 3D televisions currently in almost one quarter of all homes in the U.S. and industry forecasts for significant further growth in 2013. By contrast, HD television had achieved low single digit household penetration at the same point in its evolutionary cycle more than a decade ago.

    3net president, CEO Tom Cosgrove said, “With 3D televisions already in nearly 25 million US households – and industry predictions of dramatic in-home 3D growth this year – we celebrate our second anniversary with a continued commitment to meeting the ever-growing consumer appetite for high-quality, original 3D television content.

    “We‘re proud to make our unique brand of immersive, original 3D programming available to more than 40 million US homes, and we look forward to further growth in the in-home 3D market as more consumers embrace the format – particularly as the electronics industry continues to include 3D as a feature available in nearly all of the new television models available to consumers this year, including every UHD/4K set coming to market.”

    3net also recently launched 3net Studios, with an overarching mission to fuel not only the flagship US channel service, but also to make the highest quality native 3D and 4K content available to consumers around the globe through a broad array of international distribution partners.

    ‘Crazy Land‘ is a new original series which explores the great American subcultures and the unusual people who inhabit them. In the first episode, ‘Real Life Super Heroes‘, young people are donning masks and capes to create a new breed of true-life super heroes. These costumed crusaders are putting themselves on the front line, whether by confronting muggers, drug dealers or feeding the homeless.

  • TLC partners with ‘Taste Of Mumbai’

    MUMBAI: Lifestyle channel TLC partners with Taste Of Mumbai to celebrate great taste with cuisine, wines, live demos, food, drink and much more.

    To be held in India for the first time, the event is part of the Taste Festivals held across the world. Taste has produced over 56 festivals in 20 cities around the world.

    In eight years, Taste Festivals has served over one million foodie enthusiasts.

    The festival will be held from 22-24 February 2013 at Marine Drive in partnership with American Express. To offer a delicious experience, TLC has launched an exciting contest for the viewers based on world cuisine. Viewers can participate by sending their answers via sms or logging on to www.tlcindia.co.in and win passes to Taste Of Mumbai.

    Discovery South Asia senior VP, GM Rahul Johri said, “TLC‘s partnership with Taste of Mumbai is a natural fit as both aim to celebrate great taste. Bringing in the best of the food world, the festival will be a gastronomical delight.”

    The event will not only present world famous chefs and top restaurants but also have interactive cooking and eating sessions. The festival will feature some of the famous international culinary experts such as Alain Fabr?gues, famous for producing the finest of French Cuisine with a strong Australian influence; Margot Janse, incredibly talented Executive Chef from South Africa; Ian Kittichai, culinary specialist who has international hotels, restaurants, and food companies, Jehangir Mehta, Vivek Singh and Indian chefs such as Ritu Dalmia and Vicky Ratnani.

  • Discovery in licensing deal with AOL On Network

    Discovery in licensing deal with AOL On Network

    MUMBAI: AOL has announced a strategic partnership with non fiction media company Discovery. The partnership brings short-form videos from Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Science Channel, Military Channel to The AOL On Network’s library of more than 470,000 premium videos.

    Content from Discovery’s networks will be programmed into The AOL On Network’s 14 channels and shared across the AOL On video hub, AOL’s owned and operated properties and publisher partners, bolstering the company’s science, technology, lifestyle and history offerings. Now fans on these sites will be able to enjoy excerpts from their favourite shows and series, like Discovery Channel’s ‘MythBusters’ and annual ‘Shark Week’ to TLC’s ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ and Animal Planet’s ‘River Monsters’ as well as other titles from Discovery’s programming library. Additionally, The AOL On Network and Discovery will offer content from Discovery and Revision3’s recently launched online video series, DNews.

    Discovery senior VP, digital distribution, partnerships Rebecca Glashow said, "Discovery Communications always has been committed to engaging audiences on all consumer distribution platforms, which are supported by a strong business model. This partnership with The AOL Network not only introduces new audiences to our award-winning programming, but allows loyal fans access to clips from all of their favorite shows. It is a terrific complement to our current array of multi-channel video services."

    The AOL On Network senior VP Ran Harnevo said, "We’ve long been advocates of the idea that content providers need to distribute their offerings to multiple platforms in order to maximise exposure and ROI. Over the last few months, we’ve seen this vision rewarded through market traction and recognition, although there’s no better validation than when an industry leader like Discovery turns to us to help distribute their video content around the web."

    Launched in April 2012, The AOL On Network brings AOL’s entire video offering under one umbrella and reaches more than 68 million unique visitors per month. It is one of the top 10 video platforms on the web according to comScore and is number one in content-only categories including TV, Lifestyle, Home, Beauty/Fashion/Style, Food, Education, Travel Information, Autos, Health, Maps, and Technology. The network claims to attract nearly 700 million video streams per month.

  • Specialised channels: The growing flavour of entertainment

    Specialised channels: The growing flavour of entertainment

    The Indian television industry is poised for a dramatic transformation. 2012 saw significant changes in almost every aspect–increase in channel offerings, high-decibel launches, variety in content, innovative programming formats, renewed interest in the regional market and a range of speciality channels being launched.

    At the same time, delivery technologies have been upgraded, demanding a review of broadcasters’ growth strategies. The defining event for the industry, undoubtedly, was the roll-out of digitisation process in the four metros. Six years ago there was no DTH. Today, DTH and digital cable are transforming the television viewing experience for thousands of Indian households.

    Digitisation will continue to be the game changer for the Indian television industry in 2013 as well, when it expands into 38 more cities in the second phase and beyond. Viewers will not be restricted for choice of content because of capacity constraints in analogue cable. Digital delivery, while providing superior broadcast quality to viewers, will highlight the real value of media brands and their unique offerings.

    Discovery‘s gains in digitisation

    The growing footprint of digitisation is important for Discovery Networks. It gives us the opportunity to offer viewers a complete spectrum of our channels, a wide variety of quality content and the highest possible viewing experience. It is one of the reasons for us expanding our portfolio to eight channels and adding multiple language feeds across brands.

    Our unmatched and robust bouquet of unique content channels–Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery Kids, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery HD World, and Discovery Tamil—enjoys immense brand equity and continues to delight viewers with its sheer range of programming.

    Our programmes probe myriad mysteries, explore countries, people and cultures, celebrate scientific, engineering and medical breakthroughs from around the world and delve into thought-provoking subjects to gain insights into some of the most fascinating subjects. We have been the market leader in introducing unique channels globally and in India such as Factual, Lifestyle, Auto, Wildlife, Science, Animation and High Definition. With the launch of Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery HD World, Discovery Channel Tamil, and most recently Discovery Kids, we’ve even pioneered new genres in television programming.

    Importantly, the immense affinity to our networks has proven that viewers, when offered choice, will prefer well-defined, entertaining and high-quality content. All these channels have created new and distinct viewer groups. Others in the industry have also responded to this consumer trend by launching multiple channels across categories. In an emerging digital environment, this ability to innovate will be a crucial determinant of value for media brands.

    Digitisation to broaden scope of TV viewership

    Going forward, digitisation is bound to broaden the scope of television viewership. The growth in television audience population representing varied interests, languages and disparate content preferences has led to audience segmentation. This, in turn, is encouraging broadcasters to launch new and differentiated channels and innovative packaging.

    Post digitisation, it will be a different game plan for advertisers to reach their consumers. For advertisers who are continuously looking to reach out to their unique target group, digitisation allows them to customise their delivery according to content platforms, viewer demographics and distribution reach of channels.

    The new breed of Indian TV viewers seeks programmes dealing with information and experiences that have a direct bearing on their lives and lifestyle. They want insights into the world that they live, work and travel in just as much as they crave to see themselves through global points of view. Evidently, no single channel can hope to be a one-stop shop for entertainment anymore. Only those channels that have a distinct proposition will thrive in this new order, and emerge as the most-preferred destinations for viewers, advertisers and affiliates alike.

    Once digitisation is complete, we will enter into a pay-per-use scenario where television viewers can choose from among multiple options of specialised content according to their preferences. We foresaw this trend much ahead of others, and launched TLC in 2004, as we believed DTH will be a significant step in empowering viewers to demand content of their choice. The success of TLC fuelled our decision to launch more specialised channels like Discovery Science and Discovery Turbo. Our high-definition offering, Discovery HD World continues to woo viewers and the trade alike with its breathtaking content. Discovery Kids, our latest and 8th network offering, has already ignited the imagination of millions of kids across India.

    We believe that the pay-TV model will be dominant for years to come and will change the television landscape for everyone’s benefit.

  • Two OZ filmmakers to attend Sundance’s Screenwriters Labs

    Two OZ filmmakers to attend Sundance’s Screenwriters Labs

    MUMBAI: Two Australian filmmakers Ariel Kleiman, co-writer and director and Sarah Cyngler, co-writer of a film titled Partisan will travel to Utah to take part in the annual Sundance Institute‘s Directors and Screenwriters Labs.
     
    Partisan is the story of an 11 year-old boy Alexander who is raised to see the world through his parent‘s eyes, begins to think for himself.
     
    The program will call on accomplished advisors, professional actors and production crews to shoot and edit scenes from Partisan‘s screenplay to help Kleiman and Cyngler refine their ideas. The workshop, that will run for a month from 28 May, will also include emerging filmmakers from the US, Italy, Romania, France, Algeria, Chile and the UK.
     
    Kleiman‘s short film Young Love was screened at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival where it took an honourable mention in short film-making.
     
    His follow-up Deeper Than Yesterday had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival in the Critics Week where it won the Kodak Discovery Award for best short film and the Petit Rail Door. The film was also awarded the Jury Prize for in international film-making at 2011?s Sundance Film Festival.

  • ‘India is among our top 10 markets’ : Discovery Networks International president, CEO Mark Hollinger

    ‘India is among our top 10 markets’ : Discovery Networks International president, CEO Mark Hollinger

    India is one of Discovery‘s key priority markets along with Latin America where there is tremendous scope for pay-TV growth.

     

    Bullish about digitisation in India, Discovery has plans to expand its portfolio of channels. The latest addition in the menu: Discovery Kids from the second quarter of this calendar year.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Ashwin Pinto, Discovery Networks International president, CEO Mark Hollinger talks about the company‘s growth markets and its expansion plans in India.

     

    Excerpts:

    How important is India as a growth market for Discovery?
    India is the biggest growth market for us. It is among the top 10 markets globally for us. The combination of the government being very open to international channels, the digitisation process and the great fit between the Discovery brand and the culture of India makes this country a high priority market for us.

    Discovery has launched in many genres. When are you launching the children’s channel?
    We will launch Discovery Kids in the second quarter of this calendar year. The content will be global. We are also looking at local content. As networks grow, we have tended to have locally produced content in the mix. Discovery Kids in Latin America produces some of its own content. In India too time there will be global as well as local content as we go along.

    Is the timing right given that the kids genre is struggling?
    We tend to be long term investors. When we launched a new channel in Spain, people thought that we were crazy as unemployment rate is as as 22 per cent in that country. But we saw that there was an opportunity for us and we went ahead and launched.

     

    So whether a market is up or down at any point of time doesn‘t matter; there is space for a more education-focussed network like ours. And India, moreover, highly values education. The digitisation process is beginning and is a good opportunity for us. We are not worried about the kids genre business at all.

    Will the education component be your differentiating element?
    Yes! The other kids channels are similar. We are not Scooby Doo. We are about how you do things, when do you do, why you do. It is inquisitive in nature. Education is an important part of society. But at the same time we are not naive to think that it is just going to be education that people will tune into; it has to be entertaining as well. This was the very genesis of Discovery when John Hendricks first started it.

     

    The channel will have a healthy dose of entertainment and also satisfy the curiosity of viewers in an entertaining way. The good news is that India is a young country. There are millions of kids below the age of 14 and so the market is big.
    ‘Flagship brands have a strong place in the market. We are in a better position to survive audience fragmentation than our rivals‘

    The challenge here is that niche channels have to rely excessively on ad revenue. By when do you see subscription starting to contribute in a serious manner?
    That is a big question in terms of the impact of digitisation on the affiliate revenue stream. If you look at the international portfolio, our channels are weighted towards affiliate. 70 per cent of revenue outside the US is affiliate.

     

    When we start in a market, there is a 100 per cent affiliate revenue and then we move towards advertising. India obviously is an ad sales market. But it is hard to sit here and say what the affiliate revenue stream is going to be. We can hope that digitisation will affect carriage fees and other things.

    For the digitisation process to succeed in terms of cut off dates being achieved, what needs to happen?
    For the cable operators, it is going to be a giant challenge. If you think just about the logistics it is going to be a huge task – acquiring enough set top boxes, distributing them, getting people to understand what is going on and creating the customer service capability.

     

    Forget about fancy things like DVRs. Just to get the infrastructure in place is an enormous challenge. Luckily for us, we can watch it from afar. But once it is in place, then there is an opportunity and sort of a challenge for programmers to take advantage of digitisation. We have done it successfully in other markets.

    Do you think that the 30 June deadline will be met for the metros?
    We met some MSOs recently and they are pretty much prepared for it. Moreover, a set top box is not such a novel thing now. There are 25-30 million STBs already in DTH homes. I don’t think that the deadline is a challenge. It will be managed.

    How will digitisation change OneAlliance’s relationship with MSOs?
    This relationship will become stronger. When change happens, there is bound to be some chaos. There will be disturbance and that is the time when if you are part of a strong bouquet, you can navigate through things.

     

    We have a great team on the ground and great brands. When The OneAlliance was started, there was no digitalisation in India, no DTH. Now that there is DTH, the OneAlliance has only become stronger.

    Will you now make a concerted effort at marketing yourself to Indian consumers so that they choose you?
    This is already happening. On DTH more and more people choose us and the digital ratings of our channels are high. We offer quality content that people globally pay for. In India there is sensational television on other channels that target eyeballs at any cost. But as we move towards a digital environment, we are better prepared with quality content.

    Discovery is in several languages in India. Could you talk about the importance of localisation?
    It is important from a content point of view, from a feed structure point of view and from a language point of view. Discovery is in five languages. We are evaluating other language launch possibilities. Some of the other players have possibly gone a little bit overboard, but we have found that local language results in higher viewership in that region.

    More players are entering the infotainment and lifestyle space in India. Will this cause fragmentation?
    There is fragmentation of viewership happening. We are, however, in a better position to survive audience fragmentation than the other companies.

    Discovery spends $1 billion towards programming. Are content investments going to be affected by the global downturn?
    No! The content that we invest in is evergreen. Moreover, we can ammortise investments across 210 markets due to the nature of our products. A show will have at least a four-year life. This allows for a longer timeline in terms of investing in shows.

    Which are the main focus areas for Discovery?
    India clearly is one focus market. Latin America is also a big priority market for us; there is pay television growth to be had from there. In Brazil pay television was hampered, but now ownership has changed and pay-TV penetration is growing substantially. Poland and Russia are also big growth markets for us.

    What is the big challenge you face this year?
    It differs from market to market. In the US pay TV has a 90 per cent penetration rate. The pay TV growth there will not happen in terms of penetration. So you will see the impact of OTT and if there is enough of an upside to counterbalance any cord cutting, that may happen. Again it is hard to know if Netflix and Amazon will continue to be successful the way they have been. This is not an issue in other markets.

     

    I would say that the big challenges are the impact generally of broadband or free platforms like DTT on pay television. Can pay TV penetration continue to grow? In some countries, there are regulatory issues. Some markets like Brazil have become more protectionist as of late in terms of local Brazilian content and local channels being required on packages. The availability of alternative platforms is both a big challenge and a big opportunity.

    There has been a certain amount of operational restructuring within Discovery like the removal of the COO position. Is the basic aim to be more cost effective?
    I would say that the changes were more on the US side of the business rather than on the international scene. The international business has remained largely intact in terms of its structure. The changes were made not due to cost reasons. We have an active CEO in David Zaslav. He likes to have as few layers as possible between people who run the US business and himself. The aim is to have a better handle on the business as opposed to saving money.

    Last year you split Europe into two business units. What prompted this move?
    We used to have what I think was a bit of an odd structure. The UK is an entirely separate business. Then all of Europe, Middle East and Africa are another kind of business. UK has a lot in common with the other western European markets – slow pay TV penetration and DTT kind of opportunities.

     

    Then you have Central, Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa which are much more growth markets. There is still expansion to be done. These are more entrepreneurial markets. So we split along the lines of Western Europe as one unit and then Central, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa as another unit. We did not add a region. The international business still has four regions. We just restructured Europe to grow Western Europe and put common markets together.

    Could you talk about Discovery‘s strategy to penetrate new markets like Colombia?
    What we tend to do with new markets is to go in first and establish distribution. So we opened new offices in Central and Eastern Europe. We opened a sizeable office in Moscow. We opened other offices in places like Kiev, Almaty and Sofia.

     

    There is an opportunity in Colombia and it is our fourth biggest market in Latin America. We earlier only used a local representative for ad sales. We opened an office there for the primary purpose of ad sales while offices in Europe were opened for affiliate purposes.

    In Spain you are free to air. Are you expanding your free to air portfolio?
    This expansion has been a Western European phenomenon. In Spain pay TV has been at 30 per cent penetration for the last decade. It hasn’t grown.

     

    So now in Germany, Spain and in the UK, we have launched free to air channels. They complement the pay business and are not intended to replace it. They have allowed us to grow at a time when the overall Western Europe pay TV business is not growing. This is harder to do in other markets as there is not a big enough digital terrestrial platform or there are ownership restrictions.

    In Korea you did a partnership with CMB. Why?
    Korea is a difficult market to get into and almost impossible without a local partner. Tom (Discovery Asia Pacific MD) did an enormous amount of legwork. He spent a lot of time in Korea. It is a strong economy and very well penetrated from a pay television point of view and from a broadband point of view. So it has always been an important market for us to get into. We had to pick the right partner and have the right kind of structure in place.

    How did the JV with Oprah Winfrey for a channel come about?
    Everybody knew that Oprah would be ending her show and moving to a new business. People in the media industry wondered what that business would be. David Zaslav sold her the idea that her brand and the Discovery brand’s missions were very well suited for each other.

     

    That is how it happened. We have ambitions for the channel in terms of finding markets internationally for it. Tom is a proponent for markets in the Asia Pacific where he feels that the channel will fare well. Oprah created a lot of buzz when she came down to India. This has also been the case in Australia and in other markets around the region. But we first want it to be well established in the US.

    Discovery bought Betty in the UK, its first such acquisition of a production company. Are you looking at more such acquisitions?
    It is not yet part of Discovery‘s grand strategy to get into production. But we will see whether owning production is a strong addition to our business model or not. But I will not say that we are actively looking at other companies. We will wait and see how the Betty acquisition plays out.