Zee to launch 24-hour reality TV channel in India

Thursday, 30 January 2003, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Zee Turner, the distribution and marketing arm of India's largest private broadcaster Zee Telefilms, Wednesday said it would launch a 24-hour television channel for reality shows to boost viewership. Zee Turner, a joint venture between Zee Telefilms and AOL Time Warner's subsidiary Turner International, will launch the Reality TV channel in alliance with London-based leading broadcaster Zone Vision Enterprises. The channel will go on air from February 1, said Sunil Khanna, chief executive officer of Zee Turner. "Adding Reality TV to the bouquet of Zee provides a competitive edge in innovative programming concepts. The channel will combine real-life drama with in-depth analysis of natural and man-made disasters," Khanna told a press conference here. "With the launch of Reality TV, we are confident that viewers would be glad to subscribe alongside other channels being distributed by Zee Turner." Reality TV is currently broadcast round-the-clock to cable and satellite viewers across Europe, Britain, the Middle East and Africa. "The Reality TV brand continues to prove a huge success throughout the world, winning ratings and popularity with every audience," said Chris Wronski, president of Zone Vision. "It has always been our dream to bring the channel to the second biggest cable market in the world and we are delighted to share in Zee Turner's success in securing distribution," he added. Khanna said the content of the channel would initially be in English. "But as the viewership base grows, there is a plan to localise the channel as well. The channel is basically targeted at the age group between 16 and 34 years." Wronski said the launch of Reality TV in India would increase the channel's reach by 10 million subscribers by the end of the first quarter, taking the total number of subscribers to 27 million across five continents. Zee is the largest private television network in India with 17 television channels that are distributed across many countries, especially in South Asian region. India has 70 million television-owning homes, 30 million of which have cable connections. The country has seen regional language channels mushroom over the past two years.
Source: IANS
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