New Delhi: This year, as India joins billions of people across the globe to observe the Earth Hour to combat the threats of global warming, Discovery Channel pledges to support the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) campaign. With this association Discovery Channel aims to raise awareness on the importance of climate change, energy conservation and inspiring individual action on these climate change. Earth Hour encourages individuals and corporates to show control on various environmental solutions through their actions.

This year?s Earth Hour is scheduled for 23 March, beginning at 8:30pm in participating locations in India.

Commenting on the association, Rahul Johri, Senior Vice President & General Manager - South Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific said, ?Global warming is a burning issue and WWF?s commitment to the cause by promoting awareness on alternative energy is commendable.?

Mr. Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF-India, said, ?It has been our constant endeavor to encourage a sense of belonging and ownership among people towards the planet. Earth Hour aims to motivate individuals to lead a more sustainable lifestyle through simple actions taken every day. This year?s Earth Hour message is an attempt to position renewable energy solutions as practical and upcoming options available for individuals, organizations and governments to adopt to reduce their impact on the environment.?

Discovery Channel, through its unique programming, has sensitised people about the delicate balance that needs to be struck between the process of development and the need to save wildlife and environment. Emphasising the importance of conservation of our environment, Discovery Channel will join in the campaign to spread awareness to its viewers through its wide reach across the country.

Earth Hour encourages individuals, businesses and governments to show leadership on environmental solutions through their actions, to use the campaign as a platform to showcase to the world what measures they are taking to reduce their environmental impact. The campaign is in its fifth year in the nation and has covered around 150 cities and 5 million individuals till now.

Earth Hour has splendidly brought together hundreds of millions of people around the world as it tries to gain the support of more and more people. This year?s initiative is to introduce and raise awareness about Renewable Energy as an upcoming and practical solution for consumers to do their part in creation of a healthy planet.

New Delhi: Discovery Channel today claimed that its social media campaign and contest on Twitter for Yash Raj Films? upcoming release ?Jab Tak Hai Jaan? has everyone talking about Akira (played by Anushka Sharma) who is portrayed as an employee of the Discovery Channel in the movie.

She is on a quest to discover the truth behind the compelling story of ?The Man Who Cannot Die?.

Owing to the phenomenal response received by this activation, #AkirasDiscovery was the most talked about topic on Twitter, trending nationally for over 20 hours starting 4 pm on 3 November. @discoveryin, Discovery Channel?s twitter handle and the movie?s character Akira, also featured on the list of topics trending nationally as well as the list of topics trending across major cities in India.

The two-hour contest conducted on 3 November proved to be an effective medium of getting the audience engaged. The contest was quiz based wherein the fans had to watch the Discovery Channel?s ?Jab Tak Hai Jaan? promo and answer questions related to it. They were further asked to tweet using the hash tag #AkirasDiscovery when answering, to be eligible to win gifts from Discovery Channel. Taking it a step further, the contest was cross-promoted on Discovery Channel?s Facebook fan page to enable its fans to participate in the contest.

Commenting on the success of the initiative, Rahul Johri, senior vice president & general manager ? South Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific said, ?In today?s modern digital age, social media is the novel way of engaging with our youth audience. This is marketing innovation at its best. Making connect with its viewers, Discovery Channel?s social media strategy tent poles are innovation and ingenuity and of course, differentiation."

Conceptualised and executed by Red Digital, this focused social media outreach for Discovery Channel helped launched its Twitter handle, @discoveryin with an encouraging 321 new followers, 1,400 tweets and 8,400 video views in just two hours.

Remarkably, the campaign saw an additional 1100 tweets with #AkirasDiscovery even after the contest had ended. The campaign successfully reached out to a whopping 1,24,000 unique Twitter users and received over 0.5 million impressions on Twitter meaning each of those unique Twitter users being exposed to branded Discovery Channel content over four times on an average, all in just two hours.

Talking about the initiative, Yashraj Vakil, Chief Executive Officer, Red Digital said, ?There is no magic mantra to success but the potent combination of a great idea, belief and an encouraging agency-client relationship is what leads to some of these impactful campaigns.?

Mumbai: HISTORY TV18 continued its dream run this week with a stellar performance across board. Besides leading viewership numbers in key markets, four of HISTORY TV18?s primetime shows feature in the top 10 shows of the genre:

? INVENTION INTERVENTION: 3rd top rated show with 0.17 TVR

? DIGGING FOR THE TRUTH: 4th top rated show with 0.15 TVR

? PAWN STARS: 6th top rated show with 0.14 TVR

? LAST WOMAN STANDING: 9th top rated show with 0.13 TVR

What?s interesting to note is that each of these shows belongs to a different sub-genre within Factual Entertainment, which is indicative of HISTORY TV18?s promise of having differentiated & a variety of programming through superlative content. While ?Invention Intervention? features innovative product ideas, ?Digging For Truth? unearths famous archeological mysteries. ?Pawn Stars? showcases a family running ?pawn? shop while ?Last Woman Standing? brings to fore an exciting clash of civilizations featuring 5 western athletes competing with native tribes. The success of other sub-genres is a noteworthy point particularly because over the last few years the Factual Entertainment genre has been dominated by a heavy dose of ?survival? based shows.

Moreover, this also indicates audience preference for variety & differentiated content, values that have formed the bed-rock of HISTORY?s novel programming approach. This coupled with the fact that HISTORY TV18?s continues to lead the genre in Time Spent per Viewer, highlighting stickiness towards its varied content.

The channel which created history by becoming the leader in the factual entertainment genre in 6 metros market cluster continued its domination with an average 31% market share vis-?-vis Discovery?s 28% and Nat Geo?s 15%, while strengthening its position in the 1Mn+ markets. HISTORY TV18?s launch has also helped grow the genre by an unprecedented 60%.

All these points underscore HISTORY TV18?s dominant position, shaking-up the genre through pioneering innovation.

Mumbai: HISTORY, the world?s leading factual entertainment channel, which launched on India?s television screens in October, continues to hold on tight to the No. 1 position in 6 metros market cluster in the space thereby bringing a joyous end to 2011. The channel garnered 31% market share vis-?-vis Discovery?s 26% and National Geographic?s 18%. Since its launch, HISTORY has added an unprecedented impetus to the genre, growing it by 55% (Week 52 v/s Week 38- 41?11)!

HISTORY continues to garner the highest time spent per viewer with 33 minutes vis-?-vis Discovery (20 minutes) and National Geographic (20 minutes). With its distinct look and refreshing feel, HISTORY has truly changed the manner in which factual entertainment is perceived. In addition, the channel is also bringing about some extensive changes across marketing, digital and also outreach through its initiatives to grow the genre and make it appealing across the board.

Overall, HISTORY also performs across all parameters and is in the reckoning for a leadership position across other TGs in 1 million+ and All India market clusters as well.

With a connectivity of 50 million households across on leading cable TV platforms such as HATHWAY CABLE, IN CABLE, DEN Networks and leading DTH platforms such as TATA Sky DISH TV and AIRTEL, HISTORY reaches out
to over 40 million viewers across India since its launch.

HISTORY continues to be made with every passing week!

MUMBAI: HISTORY, the world?s leading factual entertainment channel, which debuted its India edition two months back, has created history by gaining the No.1 position in 6 metros market cluster. The channel garnered 33% market share vis-?-vis Discovery?s 31% and National Geographic?s 13%. HISTORY?s launch has also helped grow the genre by an unprecedented 57%.

HISTORY continues to garner the highest time spent per viewer with 40 minutes vis-?-vis Discovery (29 minutes) and National Geographic (16 minutes). A significant lead it has maintained since its launch, which is an indication of differentiated programming and the stickiness quotient of its content.

Overall, HISTORY also performs across all parameters and is in the reckoning for a leadership position across other TGs in 1 million+ and All India market clusters as well.

With a connectivity of 50 million households across on leading cable TV platforms such as HATHWAY CABLE, IN CABLE, DEN Networks and leading DTH platforms such as TATA Sky DISH TV and AIRTEL, HISTORY reaches out to over 40 million viewers across India since its launch.

The channel is truly living up to its promise of Making HISTORY Everyday!