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MUMBAI:
Broadcast Worldwide has launched TV Southasia which is aimed
at reinforcing a South Asian identity based on shared history,
civilization and culture.
The
channel which is free to air, is being beamed through the
Thaicom 5 satellite.
Several
television channels have provided the content for the channel
from their respective countries. They will also provide a
slot on their channels for broadcasting TV Southasia's programmes.
The
participating channels in TV Southasia are: Tara from India,
Maharaja TV from Sri Lanka, Aaj TV from Pakistan, Image TV
from Nepal and private broadcasters from Bangladesh.
TV
Southasia will have a contributory and collaborative look
with the participation of these channels from across the South
Asian region. Its programme slots will be rotational in nature.
Currently
the channel has launched a musical contest in search of a
Southasian Superstar in which five participants from
each participating channel selected through the channel's
own selection process are being sequentially presented through
a weekly programme called: Music Southasia with a target
of having the finals within June 2008.
The
objective of TV Southasia is to focus on harmony, secularism
and peace which will be conveyed through programmes like talk
shows, vox pop, music, quiz, tele films, features, documentaries,
interviews, lifestyle, cuisine, architecture, fashion, reviews
from the region on commerce, trade, and cinema.
TV
Southasia started its journey a year back through a single
pilot programme.
After
the Saarc Audio Visual Exchange (Save) which had been started
over two decades ago by Saarc countries ended in a virtual
failure with none of the state-owned broadcasters taking it
seriously, private sector television channels got together
to produce a weekly news and cultural magazine covering activities
in the region.
Southasian,
the pilot project of TV Southasia, was thus launched in the
form of a weekly television programme on the eve of the SAARC
summit in New Delhi in 2007.
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