| MUMBAI: Come April, in an unique cross platform event involving
Internet, television and mobile, the lifestyle channel Discovery Travel and Living
presents a pioneering 13 episode interactive television series, 5 Takes.
It chronicles the journey of five young travelers on the adventure of a lifetime
with one mission: to share their experiences with the world through their five
varied perspectives. After many successful series like Globe Trekker, Trailblazers,
Faking it, American Chopper and Biker Build Off, Discovery Travel and
Living captures their target group of urban 18 to 45 years age group with yet
another new series 5 Takes. The series will air every Wednesday, from 5
April till 28 June at 8 pm. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Discovery Networks India vice
president- Lifestyle Networks Aditya Tripathi says, " 5 Takes is an
unique reality programme adopting travel as the theme. Its distinct interactive
concept would further engage the viewer. Extending television programming to the
Internet, mobile or into the Interactive TV space is an exciting development and
will allow a viewer-friendly alliance of television and interactivity."
The five travel journalists (TJs), armed with video cameras, laptops and
US$50 a day, will visit 12 cities across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong
Kong and Taiwan in 12 weeks. The TJs are Gabe, Josh, Renee, Tiffany and Tony.
 |
| Meet the TJs
-Tony, Renee, Josh, Tiffany and Gabe. | Coming from diverse
backgrounds, the TJs describe their adventures in these incredible cities, and
the life-changing experiences they have along the way. Gabe is the DJ from Colorado,
Josh lives in Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, Renee
works as an Internet manager and also volunteers as an adult literacy tutor in
NewYork, Tiffany is currently working full time assisting the general manager
of a hotel and has a part-time job assisting a real estate team and Tony is the
introspective and impulsive bartender from Washington, D.C.
The TJs will
travel through various destinations for 5 Takes like
Sydney, Cairns,
Perth, Northern Territory and Melbourne/Byron Bay in Australia, Auckland, Wellington
and Queenstown in New Zealand, Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong, Thailand and Cambodia.
What makes this show different is that it is the Discovery Travel & Living
online community at travelandlivingtv.com.au/5takes that will decide the
last cities the TJs should visit in Australia and Asia, and suggest what the TJs
should do in every city they visit. In effect, it is the online community that
will set the itinerary and drive the show.
The TJs will also be posting
their personal blog daily as well as creating a video log (vlog) once a week to
let viewers know how they are faring. This online element will happen in real
time, enabling the community to have a concrete impact on the TV show that follows
just seven days later.
On promoting the new initiative, Tripathi says,
"The activity will be promoted through on-air promos on the channel. Additionally,
there will be online initiatives as well (e-mailers)." Apart from India,
the international territories airing the programme include Australia, New Zealand,
South East Asia, Taiwan and United Kingdom. Produced by Rosenblum Associates,
5 Takes is also unique as there is no "voting off" or scheming
to win the big prize and there is no "winner" as there is no prize to
win. At its core, the series is an immersion into a two-month-long summer trip
by five young travelers. Talking of the mobile network that viewers can
use to participate or download programme related information, Tripathi adds, "India's
mobile operator Hutch is the participating network for this series. The voting
is open to all users in India. The Indian audience will also be able to download
wallpaper and text content from the 5 Takes programme through the Hutch
portal." Hutch users will receive a response message to the vote that
will direct them to the Hutch WAP portal. The voting begins from 1 April and runs
till 7 April. The short code for India is 6365. The keywords for the first
vote are:
5 ME for Melbourne (5<space>ME)
5 BB for Byron Bay (5<space>BB).
Viewers can visit http://www.travelandlivingindia.com/5takes/ to
read the TJs daily blogs and see the vlog. 5 Takes will have a repeat
telecast on Thursdays at 4 pm and Fridays at 12 pm. | 
