|
DISCOVERY FACES CARRIAGE
HICCUPS; PIGGYBACK RIDES DD
Discovery Communications India (DCI) is experiencing
some hiccups with its distribution after formally turning
a subscription channel and introducing another channel, Animal
Planet in association with the BBC..
"There are few problem areas, but efforts are
on to iron them out with cable operators," admitted DCI's
managing director, Kiran Karnik.
However, Karnik pointed out that the problem
is not so much because of Discovery Channel or Animal Planet
as to the concept of subscription or pay-per-view channels.
"The cable operators and viewers too have to realise that
days of free-to-air channels are over," Karnik said. DCI had
earlier come up with an innovative idea of a maximum retail
price of Rs 7 for the two channels so that cable operators
too cannot fleece subscribers by overcharging them.
DCI sources, however, are playing down the
non-availability of Discovery and Animal Planet in most parts
of India. "There are only about 500 decoders for the two channels
which is why in many places the two channels have gone off
the air," a senior executive of DCI explained.
But all this has not stopped DCI from experimenting
and innovating. It has gone to Doordarshan, India's national
broadcaster, with a one-hour block of travel programming every
Saturday. `Travel Hour' as the program is called airs every
Saturday, beginning May 15. Each episode captures the world's
most dazzling and exotic destinations, sharing with viewers
the true experience of travel.
"Continuing the network's overall promise,
we bring to India the best in adventure and travel programming
from round the world," Karnik said. What he did not say was
that this a perfect way to still be in the viewers minds,
while DCI sorts out contentious issues with cable operators.
|
