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Our Bureau

The channel has acquired television rights to Harry Potter And the Sorcerer's Stone to be premiered later this month. It is also scouting for other such acquisitions.

New Delhi , May 17

THE Turner Group is gearing up for competition in the kids entertainment channels segment by aggressively localising its content. And for starters, it is launching a new two-and-a-half hour zone in the evenings called Prime Zone on its second kids' channel - POGO.

This will be a Hinglish block and will have two young anchors hosting the show. "Prime Pogo will engage viewers with on-line contests, phone-ins, celebrity guests and will endeavour to get as many children on the channel as possible," said Mr Ian Diamond, Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Turner Entertainment Networks Asia, Inc.

Along with this, the channel will be stepping up local production. "We have received proposals from a number of software production houses and we are in the process of evaluating them. We are committed to localise at least five half-hour live action shows by the end of the year," said Mr Anshuman Misra, Managing Director, Turner International India Pvt Ltd.

POGO will also partner with Indian production houses to re-make an internationally acclaimed show with local talent, said Mr Misra. He was, however, not willing to divulge the names of the show.

In the next phase, POGO will also ramp up its language options including increasing Hindi on the channel. By the end of this year, 80 per cent of POGO's programming will be in Hindi. Currently the channel has two hours of Telugu and Tamil is another option that would be considered.

Meanwhile, the channel has acquired television rights to Harry Potter And the Sorcerer's Stone to be premiered later this month. It is also scouting for other such acquisitions. POGO currently reaches out to about 15 million households and has most of the big advertisers on the channel.

The over Rs 100-crore kids television market is expected to witness a flurry of new entrants. With UTV planning Hungama TV, Disney looking at launching three channels and Sony Entertainment Television bringing in Animax and Viacom Inc's Nickelodeon revamping its content, Turner India would have to work extra hard to retain its leadership position. "Competition is good. It helps expand the market. We welcome competition," said Mr Misra.

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Turner's POGO to go local, cash in on Potter mania

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