(10 August 2005 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: One of the enduring classics from Indian television, the epic Mahabharat, will air on Rogers Omni Television in Canada.

Omni.2 and Omni BC will air the series from next month. The 94-part epic tale portrays the adventures and spiritual journeys of the two clans the Pandavas and the Kauravas. It is based on the 100,000 verse poem by Himalayan mystic-philosopher Rishi Ved Vyasa -- known within India to be the fountain of all knowledge.

The broadcaster's VP programming and marketing Malcolm Dunlop was quoted in media reports as saying, “Rogers OMNI Television is proud to be the exclusive broadcaster for Mahabharat in Ontario and British Columbia; both provinces are ethnoculturally diverse and home to a significant Hindi language audience. Not only does Mahabharat hold tremendous historical significance for Hindi speaking viewers, its story is timeless and universal.”

When Mahabharat was first broadcast on Doordarshan in India in the 1980's it shattered television records by reaching 97.8 per cent viewership.
When it was broadcast in the UK on the BBC Mahabharat achieved audience figures of five million, unheard of for a subtitled series being aired in the afternoon. In deference to the language of the classic text, Mahabharat was produced in Hindi with English subtitles.

Now celebrating its 25th year of diversity broadcasting, Rogers Omni Television is a free over-the-air system owned by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Media: Television division.

Through its operation of ethnic television stations OmniI.1 (CFMT) and Omni.2, Rogers OMNI claims to have significantly expanded the variety of languages, number of hours and choice of programming being offered for ethnocultural communities throughout Ontario – Canada’s most ethnically diverse province. Combined, the Rogers OMNI stations provide programming in more than 40 languages to ethnocultural groups encompassing close to 50 communities.