ITV

Tag: TLC

  • Project Accessory Transforming Any Outfit Only On Tlc

    Project Accessory Transforming Any Outfit Only On Tlc

    India’s favorite lifestyle channel TLC presents a new series- PROJECT ACCESSORY hosted by renowned model-actress Molly Sims.  The new series will follow enterprising artists who will be put to the test to create the newest and hottest trends in accessories as they compete for a cash grand prize to help them launch their own fashion accessories business.

     

    Starting September 28th, catch PROJECT ACCESSORY every Saturday at 8:00 p.m. only on TLC.

     

    In the programme, 12 enterprising designers will compete to showcase their unique vision of accessorizing. Each week’s challenge and elimination will be judged by celebrity designer Kenneth Cole and other fashion luminaries like Kelly Osbourne and Debra Messing. Lifestyle expert Eva Jeanbart-Lorenzotti engages with the audience and mentors these designers to best utilize jewelry, belts, bags, shoes, headpieces and other wares to transform simple clothes into unmatched outfits.  

     

    The only winner of the series will receive $100,000 from eBay Fashion to start their own line of accessories, a feature spread in InStyle magazine and a year of professional runway hair styling, courtesy of John Frieda Precision Foam Colour.  The challenges will take viewers on an exclusive show-around of The Swarovski Store premises, along with the one and only Nadja Swarovski.

     

    Judged by the top industry professionals, with challenges that break the limits of creativity – find out who will be eliminated and who will be crowned the first-ever PROJECT ACCESSORY winner.

  • One Alliance vs Hathway: Viewers are at loss

    One Alliance vs Hathway: Viewers are at loss

    MUMBAI: From the past couple of weeks, the One Alliance channels are not being aired on Hathway.

     

    The channels – Sony, Sab, Max, Six, Mix, AXN, Pix, TLC, Discovery Channel, Discovery Turbo, Animal Planet, Discovery kids, Sony Aath, Aaj Tak, Tez, Headlines Today, Max HD, Discovery HD world, Sony Six HD – are not being televised.

     

    The reason given as per the ticker scrolling on Sony channel which is playing on a higher LCN (Logical Channel Number) is non-payment of dues and failure of renewal of agreement.

     

    When indiantelevision.com approached the cable network as well as the aggregator, both seemed reluctant in solving the matter and discarding the issue by saying, “It happens every now and then. So, hence, is no big deal.”

     

    The two might not be affected by the conflict, but the viewers are of course the victims in this.

     

    A resident from Kandivali (West) says, “Every evening, once I am back from office, I like to watch the debate on Times Now. But now without any prior notice, the channel has been taken off. Why should we suffer when we pay our cable bills on time?”

     

    On the similar line, another Hathway customer angrily says, “Even after calling the local cable guy a hundred times, I did not get the answer why did it happen and when will the channels be back. I was just informed that one channel (Sony) has been shifted to another channel number.”

     

    A lot of viewers complained about such occurrences time and now and wondered if shifting to a DTH or another cable was better.

     

    All we can say is that in someone’s loss, would be someone else’s gain. Are the DTH operators listening?

  • TLC gets Trinny & Susannah to make over India

    TLC gets Trinny & Susannah to make over India

    MUMBAI: They have been making waves with their down under filmed fashion and style makeover show. As they have done in 12 other countries through adaptations of the programming format they share with global format major Zodiak Rights. Now British style gurus Trinny and Susannah are bringing their Makeover Mission series to Indian TV screens daily on Discovery Network’s lifestyle style TLC from 12 August at 9 p.m. 

     

    Filmed and produced in India by Zodiak Media’s Indian offshoot Sol Productions, Trinny & Susannah’s Makeover Mission India features the two British ladies, roaming the streets of Mumbai, selecting plain-Janes and Johns and whisking them away only to transform them into ultra chic ladies and debonair dudes. And not just that they even end up making them walk the ramp.

    Trinny and Susannah will be at their funny best while dressing up Indian men and women

     

    Explains Discovery Networks Asia Pacific, Sr. VP & GM, head of revenue, pan-regional ad sales & south asia, Rahul Johri: “We have done a lot of grooming shows over the past one and a half year and the reason behind this is that India is a young country which is oriented towards fashion. We have altered our international formats to suit Indian aspirations.”

     

    That is indeed true: a few months ago it rolled out the Indian adaptation of What Not to Wear India (hosted by Soha Ali Khan and Aki Narula), and then the Ozzie edition of Trinny & Susannah’s makeover mission is airing on TLC these days.

     

    For the record, Trinny & Susannah’s Makeover Mission India is an adaptation of the Norwegian format and it is pretty simple: both men and women with different shapes and sizes, fashion backgrounds are scouted by the two and given fashion and grooming advice in a very easy and fun manner. Together the hosts strive to bring a sense of individuality and confidence in them as they encourage and motivate them to accept their unique body shapes and sizes and feel good about themselves.

     

    In all, the Indian series is slated to run over 16 episodes and will feature 16 participants being transformed into swans. 11 of these were picked up casually from the streets while five were selected through a promotional campaign run on-air and a stringent selection process through TLC’s Facebook community.

     

    Each half-hour episode has been filmed both outdoors and indoors. For instance, in one of the episodes we will see the Trinny and Susannah walking down Mumbai’s iconic Marine Drive talking about fashion before they approach a couple sitting at the Pizza By the Bay and lastly, in the studio where they will go through the transformation. In Delhi, the studio location where filming took place was BKP Studio, while in Mumbai it was the Mehboob Studio. A high quality production, Trinny & Susannah’s Makeover Mission India required 70 production and technical crew, 13 cameras – two while scouting for the participants, four in the makeover studio and seven on the ramp. Direction is by Akshat Rao.

     

    However one does wonder how much do Trinny and Susannah know about Indian body shapes and dressing styles? This is where the team of experts comes in. The duo has a professional makeover team – a hairdresser, a make-up artist, seamstresses and a photographer. The styling team is headed by the British stylist Annie Swain. The hair and make-up team is from the Mumbai-based image salon KromaKay.

     

    The stylists have not restricted themselves to the international standards of dressing and will be dressing the participants in both western as well as Indian outfits. But it wasn’t an easy task for Trinny and Sussanah to make Indian women open up to them.

     

    “Unlike other countries, Indian women are very conservative when it comes to opening up about the dressing styles. For example, if we asked one what they thought about an outfit, we would get answers in monosyllables. We had to probe them to know why they liked or disliked it,” narrates Sussanah.

     

    The duo is known to get physical as well as times be rude and upfront about participant’s dressing. However, many viewers internationally, have found this approach funny, which is why the format has travelled to so many countries. But from the promos, one can clearly see that there are going to be a lot of beeps in the Indian version. Maybe that’s because the channel has toned down the way the two will talk to and approach the participants.

     

    “Of course, you won’t see a very brazen approach in the Indian version.. We had to be very careful while shooting and editing so that no one gets offended,” says SOL Production managing director Fazila Allana.

    Discovery Networks’ Rahul Johri is on a fashion programming binge on lifestyle channel TLC

     

    On the other hand, Trinny goes on to explain that they feel that more than the people living in the metros (Mumbai and Delhi) it is the people in other smaller cities that are in desperate need of a makeover. She adds “Susannah and I are keen to spread our wings and work with people who have mind blocks about how they dress. The reason could be career, family, household duties etc that they give more importance to than what they wear and how they look.”

     

    The channel, which is happy to get the well-known stylists to India for the first time says it has no worries about marketing them and the show; the target audience knows them well enough. Says Discovery Networks Asia Pacific VP marketing Rajiv Bakshi: “We didn’t face any challenge on the marketing front. Actually, India is absolutely ready for a show like this.”

     

    So, is the channel right in hoping that the names will get it more viewers? Those in the media don’t think so. According to Madison Media COO Dnyanada Chaudhari, “TLC is a niche lifestyle channel and has a certain loyal audience. I don’t think that bringing in international hosts will draw in many more eyeballs to the channel, even if the series is localised.”

     

    Now, it’s over to Indian viewers to prove her wrong.

     

    Trinny and Susannah’s curriculum vitae

     

    · The two fashion journalists have been working together for the past 17 years. They met at a party hosted by David Albert Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (the grandson of King George VI). But the stylists didn’t hit-it-off from the beginning.

     

    · The pair came together in 1994 to write a weekly column Ready to wear for the Daily Telegraph for seven years. It was a hit among readers. But ventures such as a website named Ready2shop.com and a co-authored book Ready to wear which followed later failed to make an impact.

     

    · In 2000, they were approached by BBC to host a show What Not to Wear. It ran for five years from 2001- 2005 reaching an audience of over 20 million women in 31 countries. In 2006 they moved to ITV where both made three original series: Undress, The Great British Body and Trinny & Susannah Meet. Their current TV show Trinny & Susannah – The Makeover Mission is aired in 12 countries around the world, generating an audience of 15 million viewers.

     

    · The Trinny & Susannah – The Makeover Mission’s format which the stylists co-own with Zodiak Rights (London) which is the international distribution and rights exploitation arm of Zodiak Media. The rights were acquired in 2010 from Kanakna (part of ZMG).

     

    · Fans can check more updates from the two Fashion journalists official website http://trinnyandsusannah.net
     

  • 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.

  • Rahul Johri honoured at World Brand Congress

    MUMBAI: Discovery South Asia senior VP, GM Rahul Johri has been awarded the ‘Media Professional of the Year‘ award at the Global Awards for Brand Excellence 2012.

    This accolade is a reflection of Discovery‘s performance and growth in South Asia region under Rahul Johri‘s leadership and his contribution in building a robust and varied portfolio of eight unique channels, led by the leading non-fiction network Discovery Channel.

    Having joined the broadcaster in 2001, he currently leads its South Asia operations. He is responsible for the overall growth strategy of India‘s highest quality factual and lifestyle portfolio including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery HD World, Discovery Tamil and Discovery Kids. He has also been the driving force behind networks‘ pioneering localisation strategy and the launch of multiple language feeds across brands and expanding their nationwide penetration. His recent initiative, the launch of the game changing channel in the kids genre Discovery Kids, has received industry wide applaud, according to the World Brand Congress.

    He is also credited with commissioning a range of acclaimed series including – ‘Living with a Superstar: Shah Rukh Khan‘, ‘What Not to Wear: India‘, ‘Oh My Gold!‘ and ‘Be Blunt with Adhuna Akhtar‘. He also spearheaded Discovery‘s association with Yash Raj Films for the latest release ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan‘ and with the Indian Army for its women officers‘ expedition to Mount Everest in 2012.

    Johri said, “I am grateful to the jury of the World Brand Congress for honouring me with this prestigious distinction. This award is a recognition of the excellence of my team who have contributed significantly in my journey to build Discovery as one of the most respected networks in South Asia.”

    World Brand Congress project director Dr. R.L.Bhatia said, “World Brand Congress is pleased to confer to Rahul Johri ‘Media Professional of the Year‘ award for his outstanding contribution to the industry. Rahul‘s strategic thinking to translate the vision into action has contributed to the jury decision. Rahul has the positive spirit and tenacity to make change in a hyperactive business environment”

    Johri is a board member and Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) treasurer. He is also a member of the media and entertainment committee of CII and member of the Media & Entertainment Division of Ficci.

  • Maxus wins Discovery’s media mandate

    Maxus wins Discovery’s media mandate

    MUMBAI: Discovery Communications has moved its media mandate from ZenithOptimedia to Maxus India.

    The agency will be responsible for handling all Discovery channels in India including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo and the most recent addition to the mix – Discovery Kids.

    A Discovery source confirmed the development. He also stated that Discovery Kids will be a key priority area for the Network this year.

    This is Maxus India’s third major account win this year, after Mathrubhumi and Mannaparum Finance who decided to consolidate their media businesses with the agency.

    Discovery Communications is a global nonfiction media company with a reach of more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 200 countries and territories and has more than 140 worldwide television networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science and Investigation Discovery, as well as US joint venture networks OWN – Oprah Winfrey Network, The Hub and 3net – the first 24-hour 3D network.

    It is also a leading provider of educational products and services to schools and owns and operates a diversified portfolio of digital media services, including HowStuffWorks.com. In Asia-Pacific, seven Discovery brands reach 534 million cumulative subscribers in 34 countries with programming customised in 15 languages.

  • Infotainment & lifestyle genre in a new wave of evolution

    Infotainment & lifestyle genre in a new wave of evolution

    The infotainment and lifestyle genre is going through a new wave of evolution as more entrants, channel launches and regional-language feeds marked the whole of 2011. While challenges dogged the year, digitisation threw open opportunities. With the four metros having a sunset date of 30 June 2011, channels are looking at sprucing up their content and preparing for differentiated offerings to tap into audience segmentation as about one-fourth of their viewership comes from there.

    Clearly, defined brands will hold the edge and distribution revenues will have to look up for the genre to grow. The overall ad revenue market for infotainment and lifestyle is estimated to be around Rs 3 billion and with so many channels in the fray, the pie is not large enough for all of them to dig into.

    The focus in 2011 was on increasing investments in content and expanding reach and time spent on all the networks. Said Discovery South Asia senior VP, GM Rahul Johri, “We made ingenious innovations on all fronts: programming, language offerings, availability and marketing.”

    Discovery upped the ante launching over 100 series across its seven channels with the aim to offer Indian audiences multiple new hosts and entertaining formats. “We brought brand defining programmes like ‘Curiosity’ on Discovery Channel, ‘Oh My Gold’ on TLC and ‘Taking on Tyson’ on Animal Planet. We introduced a number of interesting new formats and engaging hosts,” said Johri.

    The result was telling. While feeling the heat from competition, Discovery maintained its lead among the infotainment channels. According to Tam data (C&S 15+, All India), it had a share of 53 per cent in 2011, though it fell to 49 per cent in the second half of the year from 57 per cent in the first half. In 2010, Discovery had a share of 57 per cent.

    Arch-rival NGC is behind with a share of 25 per cent, slightly up from 23 per cent in the earlier year, while Animal Planet’s share has gone down from 18 per cent to 15 per cent. New entrant History TV18 has an average share of 9.9 per cent ever since it launched in October 2011.

    Discovery has a monopoly on the top 10 shows, both in 2011 and in 2010. Episodes of ‘Man Vs Wild’ were the top shows in both years. Other shows that rated include ‘Destroyed In Seconds’ and the special ‘Death of Bin Laden’.

    National Geographic Channel went through a global rebranding. Said National Geographic Network, Fox International Channels India MD Keertan Adyanthaya, “2011 has been a very important year for National Geographic Channel. We have completely changed the way we look and are perceived by our audience. The ‘This is who we are’ campaign, launched in December, showcased the range of experiences, passion and adventure that lies within the channel. NGC has always been dynamic, experimentative and larger than life and this campaign helped articulate this appropriately; it gave us a sharp spike in viewership.”

    Maintaining the genre share remains a huge task in the wake of increased competition. Said Adyanthaya, “ Our mix of diverse series, a new theme every month and having best-rated shows will ensure that our viewer base remains unshaken.”

    The preference is to have daily striped programming. Said Adyanthaya, “If viewers like a show, then they are more comfortable if that series is made available to them as a daily stripe rather than being showcased once a week. As a result, we have striped the popular promotable series on our grid, and we’re seeing daily sampling for these shows recording higher numbers than previously when they were available just once a week.”

    The Regional Language Push: 2011 was a year when players in this genre tried to boost viewership by launching regional-language feeds. Discovery, for instance, increased the reach of the channels on both digital and analogue platforms, launching the Bangla and Telugu language feeds and expanding lifestyle channel TLC’s Hindi feed. “Supplementing our regional strategy, we launched a dedicated 24-hour regional channel – Discovery Channel Tamil catering to Tamil speaking viewers,” averred Johri.

    NGC launched channel feeds in Tamil, Telugu and Bengali. “We feel that our content is universal in its appeal and, hence, language should not be a barrier to viewership. We have seen very strong results with these feeds. The introduction of regional feeds has seen the channel penetration and reach numbers improve significantly in these states,” said Adyanthaya.

    New entrant History TV18, launched last year as a JV between AETN and TV18, has taken the lead in regional languages by being present in as many as seven languages. “We launched with six languages and we have just added Gujarati to our portfolio. Going regional does two things – it helps us to penetrate geographies and SECs, thus helping us aggregate audiences; it will also help us monetise the GRPs.”

    Incidentally, Fox History and Entertainment had exited the space last year and became a lifestyle channel, thus making it easier for a new player to come in. History TV18 aims to change people‘s perception of history by making it contemporary; it also shows action and adventure.

    A+E Networks TV18 JV GM marketing Sangeetha Aiyer believes the Indian market is ripe for alternative formats. “That is one of the reasons for the Network18 group to foray into the factual entertainment space. Factual entertainment as a genre competes with general entertainment or fiction-based entertainment and unscripted formats in evolved markets like the US. It is also emerging as the new preferred choice across other markets in Europe and South east Asia. We believe that the trend will continue and the genre has the potential to become a relatively mainstream option for entertainment in India as well.”

    History hopes to break-even in three years and has invested close to Rs 150 million in 2011. “Going forward, we will be looking at creating innovative clutter-breaking marketing concepts, along with exploiting synergies within the network,“ said Aiyer.

    The Lifestyle Genre: Activity intensified in the lifestyle space as well. Fox History and Entertainment rebranded as Fox Traveller, learning from the experience that travel shows were performing well.

    “2011 was about rediscovery and revamping. Since the travel shows were doing well for us, we started a dedicated Traveller band in January 2011; the shows were well received by our viewers as the band witnessed a significant increase in ratings. In May 2011, Fox History and Traveller was reborn with increased focus on travel-based programming and local productions. The channel was renamed Fox Traveller in October 2011,” said Adyanthaya.

    According to Tam data (C&S4+ All India), TLC leads with a 35 per cent share in 2011. Fox Traveller enjoys a share of 28.7 per cent share while NDTV Good Times has 28.7 per cent. Travel XP follows with a share of 7.6 per cent. The top shows for 2011 are well distributed among the players.

    Lifestyle is an evolving genre. Said Johri, “TLC brought lifestyle programming in India, offering a wide variety of series in the travel and cuisine genre. It later added new genres like makeover, grooming, health, fashion and home. It further created new trends in India by its brand defining programmes on subjects like tattoo and yoga.”

    TL went a step further last year by adding another layer with programming under the jewellery and high-life genre. Most noted amongst them was ‘Oh My Gold!’ with model and actress Lisa Ray.

    “The channel’s success in lifestyle is due to its ability to identify the global and India trends and present entertaining programmes,” said Johri.

  • Pix in marketing push for ‘The Hurt Locker’

    Pix in marketing push for ‘The Hurt Locker’

    MUMBAI: With one of its biggest properties for the year The Hurt Locker airing on 30 October at 9 pm, Pix is doing a marketing campaign covering print, television, outdoor and digital.

    Speaking on this Pix VP marketing Himmat Butalia says, “We are pushing The Hurt Locker as an action movie. We want to capture as many eyeballs as possible and the action genre works best for English movies.

    Pix has carried out outdoor activities in the form of hoardings in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad from 22 October. There are print ads in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata on the day of the film‘s airing. The tagline is Everytime you suit up it is life or death”.

    On the television front, the channel has taken spots on channels like Discovery and TLC a couple of days before the film airs.

    In the digital realm, the channel has launched a viral game. Butalia claims that the game got 800 hits on Facebook within 15 minutes of launch. “The digital medium is certainly going to be very important for us going forward. You immediately get a reaction. You can track conversation. We are also using Twitter,” says Butalia. The viral game involves having to defuse a bomb.

    On the ground level, the channel tied up with multiplexes PVR and Fame for loo snippets in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune. It is also running promos in restaurants like McDonalds, Café Coffee Day in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata using their screens.

    Radio is not being used as the channel decided to focus on digital instead, says Butalia.

  • ‘Japan, India & Australia are our biggest markets in the Asia Pacific region’ : Discovery Networks Asia Pacific executive VP, MD Tom Keaveny

    ‘Japan, India & Australia are our biggest markets in the Asia Pacific region’ : Discovery Networks Asia Pacific executive VP, MD Tom Keaveny

    Discovery is upping the ante in India. Leading the infotainment genre, the company has crafted three channel launches in India this year: Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo and Discovery HD. It has also introduced regional feeds for its flagship channel, Discovery.

     

    While media companies across the world cut down on their costs due to a global economic downturn, Discovery continued with its annual expense of $1 billion on content. The idea: Discovery drives on premium content.

     

    Japan, India and Australia are Discovery‘s top markets in the Asia Pacific region.

     

    For expanding in India, Discovery is taking the organic route. Acquisitions are not on the agenda.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Ashwin Pinto, Discovery Networks Asia Pacific executive VP, MD Tom Keaveny talks about the company‘s growth plans in the region.

     

    Excerpts:
     
     
    Could you give us an overview of the strategy that Discovery has followed to grow the business across the Asia Pacific region over the past couple of years?
    Having local people run local markets is the first thing. I know that this sounds obvious but it is important to have Indians run the business in India. They know what people want, when they watch it and why they do not watch things.

     

    Secondly, the local people schedule programming on channels according to viewer tastes and feedback; they also do localisation. In India, for instance, we launched feeds for Discovery in Tamil and Telugu this year.

     

    Then there is content creation. It started a few years ago with The Great Indian Wedding on Discovery Travel and Living (now known as TLC). We also had Shah Rukh Khan Living With A Superstar, which also was a success in Malaysia. We do local content on the basis that it can be used in other markets.
     

     
    In the US, there was a certain amount of re-organisation with a clear focus on being more cost efficient. What shape has this taken in the Asia Pacific region?
    We have always been cost efficient. In a recession, you are forced to look at costs but the areas where we carried on investing was content and branding of channels. We spend $1 billion a year on content.

     

    In India, the recession meant slower growth. Australia was having a mineral boom, and so there was ad sales growth. China grew. Japan has had inherent problems, but so much of our business here is based on distribution revenues that we were less affected.

     
     
    What impact did the economic downturn have on your growth trajectory?
    I won‘t say that we were not affected. However, other companies probably cut back more than us. We are seeing the benefits of continuing to invest in content.
     

     
    For the second quarter Discovery reported increased ad revenue growth of 38 per cent for its international networks. Does this mean that the difficult economic climate is behind international broadcasters like Discovery or do challenges and difficulties remain?
    Sales is a difficult job. But we have had ratings growth. Some of this ad revenue growth you mentioned has to do with the fact that last year was a lower base.

     

    Do I think that we have seen the end of the downturn? Well, whatever happens economically, our audiences have grown. We have had a 27 per cent audience growth in India. This has been replicated across other Asian markets.

     
     
    How much revenue comes from the Asia Pacific? Which are your top three markets?
    Japan, India, Australia are our biggest markets. Malaysia and Taiwan come next. India is growing at a good rate. However, I cannot tell you how much revenue comes from the Asia Pacific.

     
     
    ‘With new channels coming in, you would expect to see cannibalisation. But that has not happened for us. With competition, the profile of the genre has got an uplift‘
     
     

    To what extent has Discovery increased the number of feeds over the past year across Asia?
    We have launched more feeds in Australia, Malaysia, Philippines. We are going into more languages. Demand is significant. The assumption is that if you launch more networks, audiences will go down. For us it has been the reverse. The more networks there are, the higher is our viewership.
     
     

    Is fragmentation a worry for Discovery with international broadcasters launching channels in the movie, entertainment and infotainment space?
    With new channels coming in, you would expect to see cannibalisation. But that has not happened for us. When we launched Discovery Science and Turbo around the world, we did not see Discovery Channel‘s audience dip. Instead it grew. With competition, the profile of the genre gets an uplift.
     

     
    What impact do you see the three new channels having on the Indian infotainment landscape?
    I can‘t think of a market in the world where Discovery Science will be better received. India is a technology hub. It is a young nation and there is a thirst for knowledge. So having a channel dedicated to science makes sense.

     

    And Discovery Turbo can take encouragement from the fact that the automobile sector is seeing robust growth in India. But I also see it being important as a male lifestyle channel.
     

     
    Recent research showed that there is still a degree of uncertainty about the benefits of HD for television viewing. How do you see HD as a value add?
    Our content which includes natural history and wildlife fits into HD very well. We launched Discovery HD in Japan in 2005. It has only been in the past two to three years that other channels started investing in this technology. For us investing in technology is in our DNA. It is part of our psychological profile because it is a brand promise as well.

     

    We have a future proof library. For example, Shah Rukh Khan Living With A Superstar was filmed in HD. Once viewers see HD, going back is a difficult proposition. But everybody has to work towards it. It cannot be just one or two networks that are doing the heavy lifting.
     

     
    Have you done any research among the creme de la creme viewers to find out what they expect from a network like yours?
    There is congruity in terms what viewers to want to watch. Travel and cooking are key genres. Shows that combine these genres like Anthony Bourdain also work well. Grooming shows also work. Shows like Man vs Wild, Deadliest Catch, Mythbusters work globally. At the same time, you do have to take into account local tastes.

     
     
    A lot of focus has been given to Animal Planet over the past 18 months. The aim was to make the programming sharper, more edgy. Is this increased investment starting to pay dividends?
    In the digital environment, it has been one of the fastest growing channels. There is a lot of co-viewing happening. We constantly look at the schedule, find out what works and attempt to be contemporary.

     

     
    Are you satisfied with the joint venture relationship Discovery has with Multi Screen Media?
    It was the right deal to do at the right time. We have developed and grown our networks. The deal was a gamechanger and formed a template for others to follow.
     

     
    How do you get a revenue uplift from India quite in line with the success you have had with the audiences here?
    We have a two-pronged strategy in India. We launch new networks that will rate and grow audiences for us in this market. This is how ad revenue will grow. On the distribution side, there is a tipping point where analogue shuts down. Australia went quickly from analogue to digital. In India, how quick will the transition be? At what point do addressability, cable, DTH, number of channels and package costs come into play? That is something we all are trying to grapple with.

     
    Global media companies are setting up JVs with local companies in India. Is Discovery looking at something like this to grow its business in India?
    JVs are being done now by companies that were maybe 10-15 years late in getting into India. The question is whether they are doing a JV because they want to do it or because they have to. Companies that came into India early like Discovery have done it on their own terms.

    Having said that, there are times when a strategic alliance makes sense. In Japan, for instance, we have a JV with JCom. The Hub, our new channel that is set for launch, is another good fit as it brings together two strong brands in production and distribution.