Discovery Travel & Living launches three new series

Discovery Travel & Living has launched three travel series – Rough Guides, Walking the World and Things to Try before You Die, all of which focus on different travel experiences.

Rajiv Bakshi, director, marketing and communications, India, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, said, “With an increasing desire to explore various locales around the world, the three unique travel series will act as ultimate guides to the traveler. The series will undoubtedly encapsulate every desired thrill that a traveler. would want to experience. From in-depth analysis for planning the perfect holiday to gut-wrenching antics, the programmes will keep viewers engaged.”

Rough Guides will provide information on how to choose and plan a budget holiday at various destinations, including wildlife parks, islands, and hip cities. The 17-part series, which went on-air on March 1, will be telecast every Sunday at 9 pm.

Each week, the series will explore the top five destinations in each category – beaches, cities, eco escapes, weekend breaks and hidden gems – before naming the one considered to give travelers the best holiday experience.

Another show, Walking the World will depict dramatic sights and local cultures that a traveler. can experience, simply by walking. The series’ hosts will walk through 10 trails on five continents, exploring the planet’s heights and depths, prehistoric forests and ancient wonders of the world.

Some of the destinations covered in the 10-part series are Tanzania, Alaska, Italy, France, Austria, China and Arizona. The series will be aired on the channel every Monday at 10 pm.

Things to Try before You Die has hosts like Jules Lund, Livinia Nixon and Gary Sweet indulging in the top 30 outrageous and adventurous activities in different destinations across the globe, including the US, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and France. The eight-part series will be aired on the channel every Wednesday at 9 pm.

NGC to take viewers on an African Safari

National Geographic Channel (NGC) will take viewers on an African Safari later this month. The action takes place at Kruger National Park in South Africa.

The Safari special will offer viewers four hours of one-on-one encounters with Africa’s most majestic creatures. The show lasts for seven days starting 9 November, from 8:30 am to 10:30 am and from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

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Broadcasting live from Nwanetsi Concession at Singita located inside Kruger National Park, Caught on Safari: Live! will capture a landscape where large prides of lions thrive along with other species including buffalo, leopard, elephant, white and black rhinos. Viewers will hear directly from the game rangers and wildlife trackers watching over Singita along with veterinarians, learning about Africa’s conservation issues as well as specific initiatives taking place in Kruger National Park.

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NGC India senior VP, content and communication Rajesh Sheshadri says, “Caught on Safari: Live! would be an unforgettable and rewarding television experience as it would enable viewers to be a part of wild life encounters in real time. Viewers from anywhere in the world can observe and experience a great wealth of information shared by the game guide coupled with the anticipation of what a safari can offer.”

To wire the wild for an up-close look at life in this animal kingdom, cameras will be set up at watering holes around the park and other locations. Mobile cameras on trucks will also accompany the guides as they track various animals.

Every technique used will be designed to non-invasively capture animals at home in their natural element. As an ultimate safari guide, the weeklong live event will present an incredible and unpredictable look at animal behaviour, inspiring resiliency and wildlife survival that can only be captured live.

The live event will be telecast worldwide in 166 countries on National Geographic Channel as well as online at www.natgeotv.co.in

Animal Planet to don new look from 1 October

Animal Planet, a joint venture between Discovery Communications and BBC Worldwide, will be donning a new look from 1 October.

The fresh brand identity will be revealed on the channel from 30 September midnight.

Additionally, Animal Planet’s Hindi feed will also go through a similar change.

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Says Discovery Networks Asia Pacific SVP and general manager – India Rahul Johri, “We are transforming the look, feel and storytelling of Animal Planet in order to deepen our relationship with audiences, affiliates and advertisers alike. The new Animal Planet is full of exciting, instinctual stories that will bring out the raw, visceral emotion in the natural world and lead viewers to see animals as characters, not merely creatures.”

The look of the channel will be supported by a new logo and on-air graphics which has been designed by London-based Dunning Eley Jones.

Meanwhile, adults will continue to remain as the target audience for the channel.

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In addition, the channel has lined up new programmes like Equator docu-soaps Lemur Street, Meerkat Manor and pet entertainment shows like Groomer Has It and CGI.

“The new sets of programming have been designed keeping the Indian audience in mind. We do a lot of research before deciding on any new program. It is widely known that we have lot of international programs nevertheless we only bring those set of programs that we feel would suit the taste of Indian audiences. The new programs will tap into the primal instincts that drive us all maternal, survival and social with fascinating stories that resonate with what it means to be human”, added Discovery Networks Asia Pacific director- marketing and communications India Rajiv Bakshi.

Marketing and promotion for the new Animal Planet will also begin from 1 October.

Bakshi notes, “We would be using rest of our channels to market the new and vibrant looking Animal Planet. As of now there are no plans of using billboards and hoarding for further promotion.”

The channel completed its ten years in India this year.

History Channel, Maxim join hands for ‘Dogfights’

The History Channel has tied up with Maxim, the men’s lifestyle magazine from the Media Transasia group, for ‘Dogfights’, the adrenaline-pumping series based on the real battles.

Together History Channel and Maxim bring the second season of the ‘Dogfights’. Every episode is combined with actual encounters from war-zones from different latitudes, longitudes and time zones from the world over, the show will feature submarine, tank, helicopter and ship battles.

“The tie-up has just the right brand fit with respect to our reader’s interest. Also the content of the series is packed with thrills, action and nail biting adventure which will help us to make a better connection with our readers,” says Piyush Sharma, CEO and Publisher, Maxim India.

Premiering March 11 and then every week night from Tuesday to Thursday at 9 pm each episode of this series promises to keep the viewers riveted with action, adventure, spectacular battles, daring missions, application of science and thrilling fights. The March series will start with ‘Dogfights: The greatest air battles’, the episode will trace back to the origins of the first ever dogfights in world war one followed by ‘The first dogfighters’, ‘Gun kills of Vietnam’, ‘Jet vs. Jet’, ‘Kamikaze’, ‘Luftwaffe’s deadliest mission’, ‘Desert aces’, ‘Night fighters’ and ‘Thunderbolt’.

Also in the March and April issues of the magazine, the show will be presented to readers as a ‘Must watch’ TV Series on History Channel, strongly recommended by Maxim.

Greycells18 launches ‘Topper’ channel

Greycells18 Media has launched an curriculum based education TV channel ‘Topper’ which is part of the Topper Integrated Learning System.

‘Topper’ will initially cater to classes IX to XII, and provide validated curriculum based content that will comply with CBSE and other related state boards. Topper will initially cover Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

Greycells18 Media is a joint venture created by Sunil Khanna and Sricharan Iyengar. It is co-promoted by Raghav Bahl of Network18 and Shantanu Prakash of Educomp, in their personal capacities and Network18’s private equity initiative Capital18.

Sunil Khanna, Co-founder, Greycells18 said, “We are happy to announce the launch of the first curriculum based learning system. Statistics show that there are approximately 300 million kids who enrolled in schools across India. With limited seats available in colleges and premium professional courses, it is imperative to have a strong primary and secondary education background.”

Sricharan Iyengar, Co-founder, Greycells18 said, “‘Topper’ features a group of Star teachers who have been carefully identified. With exceptional track records- iconic and inspirational– these individuals come armed with experience gathered from teaching in the best institutes of the world, coupled with a passion for their subject.”

Raghav Bahl, Co-promoter, GreyCells 18 said, “It is about time India looked beyond TV as a medium of entertainment like in the west. We are confident that ‘Topper’ learning system will not only broaden people horizon as TV as a medium of education but will also revolutionize the education system in India.”

Shantanu Prakash, Co-promoter, GreyCells 18 adds, “We are happy to acknowledge that we have an extremely qualified team onboard to prepare the content for “Topper”. It will impart education to students in a completely different manner. The content has been designed and packaged in a way, which not only make education exciting but will also comply with the syllabus of most of the boards in India.”