The adage goes that crime does not pay but in modern times its depiction by television channels has proved to be a money-spinner for many. Taking a leaf from this genre’s proven ability to attract viewership, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific has recently launched a Hindi channel, Investigation Discovery (ID) offering true stories of crime, investigation and suspense. The original English version is a runway hit in US.
This was disclosed by Rahul Johri, Executive Vice President & General Manager, South Asia, Discovery Networks (DN) Asia-Pacific in a round table with the media. He remarked, “ID is one clear proposition for a large base and maximum mass audience and therefore we have consciously done it in Hindi.” To be able to have a wider reach among the audience, the programmes have been translated into Hindi and dubbing has been done keeping in mind viewers’ sensibilities. “Our dedicated team of translators/writers have ensured accurate translation,” added Rahul. Some of the serials on ID include “Solved”, “Mobster Confessions”, “Forensics: You Decide” and “Escaped”. Stressing the importance of Indian market, Rahul said, “It is the first Asian market to beam ID.”
Pitching DN as “India’s No. 1 non-fiction media company”, Rahul presented its growth strategy, underlining its commitment to satisfy the curiosity and aspirations of millions of Indian viewers. “India is a young country and the people are curious and DN offers them entertainment as there is appetite for it,” said the VP. He said the network had a large and wide reach and this was proved by the fact that “it has distribution in over 300,000 villages”.
Out of 600 million viewers of DN across Asia, India has 240 million for its current portfolio of 11 channels which besides ID include Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery Kids, Discovery Science, Discovery Tamil, Discovery Turbo, Discovery HD World, TLC HD World and Animal Planet HD World.
Discovery Channel (DC) is provided with audio feed in English, Hindi, Bangla and Telugu. Keeping in mind that DC alone has reach of 50 million weekly in the country, Rahul unveiled some of the India productions to be telecast in future. These are “Revealed: World’s Biggest Election” on how the Election Commission of India conducts one of the biggest exercises in the world; “India Living Traditions” showcasing lesser known facets of the country’s vibrant cultural practices, fascinating living traditions, unique art forms and amazing natural phenomena; and “Revealed: Rann of Kutch” about geology, history, culture, people and wildlife of the region.
Earlier there was audio feed in Tamil too but the strong following it evoked and response from the advertisers led it been hived off as a separate channel, Discovery Tamil which has localised content too. “It has over 200 local and national advertisers,” said Rahul.
Keeping in mind – the dominant segment of the broadcast spectrum – the children, Discovery Kids, which has some fiction content, Rahul said, “In 2014 it registered 127 per cent growth in viewership.” Beamed in English, Hindi and Tamil it has lined up new programmes in the next quarter. “We have “Kisna” by Ketan Mehta, the first Indian animation commissioned by the network. It is not mythology based and set in present day. The children will relate to the character,” said Rahul. Other titles lined up are “Mister Maker”, “Transformers Energon”, blockbuster movies, “Khumba” and “Stan Lee's Might 7”.
Asserting that each channel has its own unique content, the VP stated that “Discovery being the largest content creator spends 1.5 billion dollars every year”. He said that the library had enough depth to provide programmes for all the 11 channels of DN though a few programmes are shown in more than one channel due to its relevancy and topicality. Rahul also highlighted that the programmes on “normal and the HD channels too are different. In fact we have separate production teams for both.”
He said “viewers expect us to deliver” and added “we do not look at competition, as our goal is to provide our end-users – the viewers – with entertainment and make them feel that after watching our programmes they have spent their time gainfully.”
