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— Ramesh Sharma

Mr Rahul Johri, Senior V-P & General Manager, Discovery Networks India, at the launch in the Capital on Thursday.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, July 31 Discovery Networks plans to launch three new channels next year, taking its portfolio to six.

The company has already applied for licences from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, said Mr Rahul Johri, Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Discovery Networks India.

The three channels are: a science channel (Discovery Science), a channel dedicated to bikes, cars, boats and “all things motored” (Discovery Turbo) and a High Definition channel (Discovery HD) which would be a premium service and probably cost consumers more than their average channel.

The High Definition, said Mr Johri, was a medium tailormade for Discovery which featured great cultural and wildlife footage. The audience of high definition television owners, though very small, was a significant one, he added. Declining to share investment figures, Mr Johri said the company would spend as much as was required for a successful launch of any channel. Distribution costs he admitted had “gone through the roof”, however, he said advertising interest was still high.

“In today’s environment an advertiser is looking for a product that provides a clearly defined audience,” he added. Discovery is betting on niche channels on the back of a television audience that’s predominantly young, and the growing digital television environment.

Having started a Hindi feed of its Animal Planet channel in April, the network is considering the same for other channels, details of which were not shared at the announcement today.

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Discovery Networks to launch three channels next year

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