From today NRI's and other Asians in America who feast on television programming that they can identify with have a new channel to look forward to. TV 36, which is America’s first and only all South Asian Terrestrial TV channel, has signed an agreement with Ethnic Media Group Inc. Under the agreement EMG will run a new channel Desi TV and the content will be drawn from the channels belonging to the Reminiscent Television Network. EMG is under license from RTV (UK) Ltd.

The Reminiscent Network which started operations in 1998 operates 8 channels in Asia and the United Kingdom where it claims a reach of 200,000 Asian homes. In India, the company which started operating in 1999 claims that its Lashkara and Gurjari channels draw high ratings. Desi TV is a part of Reminiscent's strategy to break new ground in ethnic television entertainment. The company is trying to fill the market gap in all the ethnic communities in America who thirst for quality entertainment in their mother tongues.

Desi TV programmes will cover six languages: Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telegu and Urdu. DesiTV will produce programmes in these languages which will give the youth from the Indian diaspora a chance to display their talent.

Channel highlights include serials like Sea Hawks, Deewar, Shanti and movies. Keeping in mind the fanatical interest Asians maintain in cricket the channel will devote coverage to the sport as well.

Anil Srivatsa COO of Reminiscent Television (USA) Ltd. (RTV) and EMG is in charge of managing Desi TV. He also hosts and produces America’s largest syndicated South Asian Radio show Anil-ki-Awaaz.

Talking on the role Desi TV will play in the television landscape Srivatsa said: Within the current scenario of Pay television, we are launching our channel in the free-to-air mode. Our goal is to expand this service to other cities through similar distribution channels. Our strength is language and we at RTV believe in reaching the grass root South Asian population by giving them something in a language that truly takes them back to a world they can reminisce about.

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