Discovery India revamps DTamil into an entertainment channel

Discovery Communications India has revamped DTamil into an entertainment channel that will have best of programming, curated for family audiences in Tamil Nadu, from across Discovery Network, including Discovery, Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery Kids, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo and Scripps Networks Interactive.

DTamil will have a very different look and feel as compared to Discovery Channel — which continues to dominate India’s infotainment genre, with its highest quality non-fiction content available in eight language audio feeds, including Tamil, English, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Bengali.

In a unique initiative that is bound to attract fun-seeking audiences across the state, DTamil has signed Tamil actor Karunakaran, in his maiden appearance on TV, as the host of ‘Asaalta Alaravidum Pullingo’, premiering on November 16 at 1pm and 7 pm.

Discovery Communications India has initiated these changes keeping in view the importance of Tamil Nadu, a market with highest regional affinity, with a strong GEC presence. Discovery India’s detailed consumer study across India, including Tamil Nadu, helped in understanding consumer need gaps.  The learnings from the state of Tamil Nadu pointed towards an infotainment-cum-entertainment network — a channel which no one else except Discovery could offer.  The channel started incorporating the learnings and the results are already visible with DTamil’s viewership increasing by 51% over the last four weeks with any marketing spends.

“We are excited with how the new proposition of DTamil is shaping up. It is an interesting strategy — one which leverages our strengths and offers us a long-term scale-up of DTamil,” said Sai Abishek, Director, Content, Factual and Lifestyle Entertainment, South Asia, Discovery Communications India.

On the show with Karunakaran, Sai Abishek said, “This is the first time that such a show has been created for discerning Tamil audiences. Fail Army is the world-wide leader in funny fail videos and Karunakaran tops and tails these videos in his own inimitable humorous way, making the entire show more endearing. We are very confident that Tamil audience will lap-up this new series.”

Speaking about his TV debut, Karunakaran said, “I have never thought of being on TV before but couldn’t refuse this offer for two reasons. Firstly, it came from Discovery, a brand I truly love and propagate and secondly, I loved the concept of Fail Army. To laugh in the face of failure is a rare ability. It is fun, and at the same time, a strong underlying message of ‘not taking yourself too seriously’ being delivered.”

DTamil is targeting to maximise viewership across time bands with family-friendly formats, including comedy, crime and early prime programming to make it a truly differentiated brand. The prime time 9 pm band will be focused on tentpole entertainment led by innovative food-based shows like Cutthroat Kitchen followed by paranormal focused programming like Paranormal Witness and A Haunting at 10 pm.

The 6:00 slot has been earmarked with non-fiction programming with the worldwide popular show Toddlers and Tiaras. Kids-related programming has also been scheduled in the morning hours and evening time at 5 pm with shows such as Little Singham, How Do Animals Do That? and Animals Unleashed.

Discovery has appointed Fourth Dimension Media Solutions as the ad sales partner for Tamil Nadu. Led by Shankar B, Fourth Dimension Media manages ad-sales for leading news channels as well as radio stations in the region.

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