Slowly but surely, the fourth player in the Hindi entertainment television sweepstakes, Sahara TV, is keeping up with its plans to innovate its programming content. To add to Vilayati Babu, which it unveiled on 5 November, the channel is aiming to launch another three serials this month. (Vilayati Babu, a comedy show airs at 11:00 am on Mondays, and brings together two ace comedy stars, Shekhar Suman and Satish Shah, for the first time on television.)

Zindagi...Teri Meri Kahani -the new attraction on Sahara

Sahara TV vice-president (publicity, promotions & PR) Priya Raj says that, Apnapan, the first of these will launch on 12 November at 1:30 pm (repeat telecast at 11:00 pm). The weekly drama series stars Kiran Kumar.

It will be followed by the flagoff of a daily soap, Santaan on 22 November. Santaan revolves around the issue of equal opportunities for the girl child and airs at 8:00 pm.

Zindagi...Teri Meri Kahani, the third new show from the Sahara TV stable, hits the small screen on 23 November. The series is an emotional drama is inspired by the hit seventies movie Kramer vs Kramer. It focuses on the suffering that a spouse goes through when a couple decides to divorce and the psychological problems that their child faces. Produced by Ashwin Verma of A.V. Telefilms, it is directed by Arun Frank and stars Parmeet Sethi, Iravati Harshe, Minal Kulkarni and a host of others.

Earlier this month, Sahara had rejigged the timings of two news programmes. The evening news programme at 7.30 pm was shifted to an earlier slot at 5.30 pm while the late night news hour was extended by 30 minutes. The late night news hour now comprises 75 per cent news in Hindi, while the rest is in English.

Says Raj: "We realized that the 7.30 pm news slot was not too popular. We found that viewers were watching Sahara programmes till the news came on, and were then shifting to other channels. They would then return to Sahara for prime time programmes. On the other hand, we have a strong viewership for the late night news programme. Hence, the decision to change the timings. "