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History channel will roll out in India on October 9,
reaching 40 million homes at launch, TBIvision can
reveal. A+E Networks has cut a deal with several
platform operators and Sean Cohan, senior VP,
international, says that the channel can, ultimately, be bigger than Discovery in the country. A+E inked a joint venture with TV18 last year with a
view to getting into the fast-growing Indian
market. It has now inked carriage deals with cable
and DTH operators including DEN, Hathaway, Tata
Sky and Airtel. It will launch in HD, in six languages:
English; Bengali, Marathi, Hindi, Tamil and Telegu. A+E has also recruited Bollywood superstar Salman
Khan as brand ambassador and he will be getting
the message out about History to Indian
consumers. Reaching 40 million homes means the channel will
only be behind its counterpart in the US in terms of
distribution and it will be the biggest international
History from launch. "The Indian market has challenges, but there
are big opportunities - there is an enormous
population base and a growing middle class and
TV industry," Cohan told TBIvision. "The
percentage of overall viewing in the factual
category is quite small and we think there is an opportunity to move the needle in that category." Long term Cohan said History can be the top factual
channel in India. "The competition has been there a
long time, but we think we can be number one,
albeit not in the first year," he said. A+E and Network18 announced their JV last
August and subsequently brought in Ajay Chacko
to run thedivision. There are plans to launch Bio and other A
+E channels in India. A+E has had a service in India before, with The
History Channel, which was operated as a joint
venture with Fox. It launched in 2003, but came off
air in 2008 when that deal expired.
http://tbivision.com/article.php?category=4&article=2402&page=2
reaching 40 million homes at launch, TBIvision can
reveal. A+E Networks has cut a deal with several
platform operators and Sean Cohan, senior VP,
international, says that the channel can, ultimately, be bigger than Discovery in the country. A+E inked a joint venture with TV18 last year with a
view to getting into the fast-growing Indian
market. It has now inked carriage deals with cable
and DTH operators including DEN, Hathaway, Tata
Sky and Airtel. It will launch in HD, in six languages:
English; Bengali, Marathi, Hindi, Tamil and Telegu. A+E has also recruited Bollywood superstar Salman
Khan as brand ambassador and he will be getting
the message out about History to Indian
consumers. Reaching 40 million homes means the channel will
only be behind its counterpart in the US in terms of
distribution and it will be the biggest international
History from launch. "The Indian market has challenges, but there
are big opportunities - there is an enormous
population base and a growing middle class and
TV industry," Cohan told TBIvision. "The
percentage of overall viewing in the factual
category is quite small and we think there is an opportunity to move the needle in that category." Long term Cohan said History can be the top factual
channel in India. "The competition has been there a
long time, but we think we can be number one,
albeit not in the first year," he said. A+E and Network18 announced their JV last
August and subsequently brought in Ajay Chacko
to run thedivision. There are plans to launch Bio and other A
+E channels in India. A+E has had a service in India before, with The
History Channel, which was operated as a joint
venture with Fox. It launched in 2003, but came off
air in 2008 when that deal expired.
http://tbivision.com/article.php?category=4&article=2402&page=2
