NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TO RENEW INDIAN THRUST

The National Geographic Channel management says it has managed to close to double its penetration in Indian cable and satellite television homes from 4 million homes at launch to 7.5 million. 10,000 cable operators in 232 towns (of the estimated 65,000 cable operators all over the country) are carrying the channel. The basic subscription service is considering a dedicated feed for the country with dubs in Indian languages offering cable operators the flexibility to cater to viewers' linguistic needs. This would allow it to carry India specific advertisements too.

The management is planning a series of road shows with cable TV operators in the major Indian metros to increase National Geographic's penetration in cable TV homes. A decision on reintroducing subsidies on digital receivers is to be taken by mid-May. Receivers, costing Rs 31,000, were sold to cable operators at Rs 12,000. An estimated 1,000 receivers were given away at the subsidised rates. The subsidies were done away with when the channel managed to get some penetration.