MUMBAI: This Summer Discovery Kids is airing animated adventure movies based on the stories of Tintin.

The movies will air every Sunday at 10 am.

The films are ?Tintin and the Lake of Sharks? on 19 May and ?Tintin and the Prisoners of the Sun? on 26 May.

The films are about young reporter Tintin and his aide Snowy travelling around the world accompanied by the likes of Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus and the detective Twins Thompson and Thomson.

Discovery South Asia senior VP and GM Rahul Johri said, "This summer vacation kids will be presented with an exciting line-up of television entertainment with the biggest animation series, Transformers Prime and three Tintin movies from Discovery Kids. Tintin will entertain, engage and enlighten the kids with his clever and curious adventures all through the month of May."

MUMBAI: Factual entertainment network, Discovery Channel will launch ?Frozen Planet?, a series that will take viewers through the Earth?s polar regions. The show is a co-production between Discovery and UK pubcaster The BBC.

The series will air every Monday to Friday at 8 pm from 6 May. Narrated by naturalist Sir David Attenborough and featuring wildlife cinematography, the show has taken new technology to the most extreme and remote parts of the planet, capturing imagery above and below the ice.

Discovery South Asia senior VP and GM Rahul Johri said, "Frozen Planet is one of those captivating series which will showcase the splendour of the most intriguing and extreme places on our planet - the polar region. Viewers will be inspired by the breathtaking landscapes and will realise the efforts that go behind capturing such amazing moments."

The show will take viewers through polar landscapes, which most humans will never get to experience. This series brings to the screen the frozen habitat of the polar region for what could be the last time before global warming changes them forever.

The series will take viewers on a ride from deep under the frozen seas to a world of erupting polar volcanoes. It will travel to the South Pole across the Antarctic icecap - the largest concentration of ice on our planet. The programme retraces the steps of how life evolved under trying circumstances and is surviving against all odds.The show is sponsored by amul, samsung, nerolac and pulsar.

MUMBAI: Animal Planet has embarked on a month-long programming special on India?s national animal titled ?Where Tigers Rule?, which will aim to bring to the fore engaging and varied stories on this animal from India and around the world.

Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra and leading Bollywood actors Ajay Devgn and Bipasha Basu have joined hands with Animal Planet to show their support ?Save Tiger? movement. They will augment the channel?s efforts to generate nationwide interest on tigers and the threats affecting their survival.

Premiering every night at 9 pm in April only on Animal Planet, ?Where Tigers Rule? will present viewers with engaging programmes on the tiger?s behaviour, predatory skills, legends and issues related to its survival.
 
Filmed in breathtaking landscapes in India?s magnificent forests, grasslands and protect reserves, ?Where Tigers Rule? will provide an intimate look into the mysterious world of the tiger.

Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific SVP and GM - South Asia Rahul Johri said, "Animal Planet?s nationwide popularity will help create support for the national cause of tiger conservation. Tigers would rule television screens for an entire month. Viewers can follow the footsteps of these fascinating big cats and explore the intricacies of their role as predator and protector."

MUMBAI: Creativity, technology and right regulation will set the tone for engaging a billion consumers in India?s changing media and entertainment landscape.

Television broadcasters need to imbibe an important mindset change as they address diverse audiences. Says Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) MD and CEO Punit Goenka, "The industry has only just begun to take baby steps in the creation of content for a diverse audience and has a long way to go. Fragmentation of audience is the order of the day. It is time we stop seeing ourselves as broadcasters and instead consider ourselves as content creators and aggregators.?

Even print publishers, under threat in the matured markets from digital media, will have to sharpen their connect with audiences. Says Bennett & Coleman, CEO publishing Ravi Dhariwal, "The trick is to recognise and capture small audiences and then retain and nurture them. For this, we have a creative team that has the full freedom to experiment and come up with engaging ideas and a marketing team that understands the consumers and acts as the bridge between the creative team and the target audience. What is really crucial is the sync between the marketing team and the creative minds.?

Others participating at Ficci Frames in a session on "How to engage a billion consumers in the media and entertainment landscape" were Disney UTV MD Studios Siddharth Roy Kapur, Viacom 18 Media group CEO Sudhanshu Vats, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific senior VP and GM India Rahul Johri and Twitter Inc head of global operations Shailesh Rao. The session was moderated by Star India CEO Uday Shankar.

The panel discussed and debated on how a balance among the three three pillars of creativity, technology and regulation could lead to an effective mechanism for capitalizing on the one billion population plus of the country. The panel also discussed on the emergence of new media as a means of providing a thrust to the M&E industry in terms of reach and effectiveness. Everyone agreed though that reaching a billion consumers is a double edged sword that presents a challenge as well as an opportunity.

The discussion also touched upon the fact that India is a diverse country with various nuances to its cultural, social and economic fabric. Is the media and entertainment industry of the country ready to cater to an audience so diverse in its constitution?

Vats optimistically said, ?The key to sustaining in such a diverse environment is to sharply segment the audience and target it. We are already doing so in many of our practices, but we need to do it more and more in the days to come.?

Vats and Goenka, however, agreed that the mega consumer trend is fast catching on. We now see the evolution of the ?I? consumer that demands customised content to better suit his individuality as opposed to the ?We? consumer who is satisfied with mass content. The presence of multiple screens ? whether it is more than one television set at home, or one person accessing multimedia like tablets, laptops, smartphones etc. ? is here to stay. This, in fact, will provide opportunity to reach more consumers and customise content accordingly.

Roy Kapoor stressed on the fact that in case of movies, it is the creativity that has managed to increase the reach of the cinema. He cited the example of the nineties when pan India hits had become rarer by the day owing to the fact that regional audiences ceased to relate to the movies anymore. With the advent of digitsation of movies at the turn of the century, parallel movies and hardcore commercial cinema have begun to co-exist and, in fact, be accessed by the same consumer.

?In my view, the challenege as far as cinema is concerned is the infrastructure, or the lack of it. We are a country that has a very low screen density and this hampers the reach to a large extent,? he said. In his opinion, the trick is to expand the footprint and grow as an industry. He suggested three ways to do so ? ensure content syndication on theatrical and non theatrical platforms, use the smaller screen to get content distributed and explore new markets to encourage people to watch movies legitimately.

According to Johri, localisation will drive the industry to grow exponentially and involve a billion consumers through multiple interfaces.

Rao stressed that technology can help in increasing reach - as is obvious when new media platforms like Twitter are used to service the business and not for technology sake. ?It is important to match the creativity of the medium with the audience. TV and print have been Push mediums and new media gives the opportunity to talk to the audience that can go a long way in reaching out to more people.?

The panel agreed that regulation in various media needs to be looked at as more often than not, it has been found to discourage the growth of the medium.

Further, Vats pointed out that the media and entertainment industry is an essentially consumer centric arena, but business and revenue models are still predominantly B2B. ?So instead of setting the pricing according to what the market can pay, we set the pricing according to our business model and targets,? he said.

In case of cinema, Roy Kapoor feels that capitalising on the non theatrical platform could be a good option. ?The non theatrical platform benefits from the marketing carried out for the theatrical platform. We are still not at a stage when movies can be exclusively carried on non theatrical platforms as then they would miss out on the hype that those released on theatrical platform have.?

At the end of it, the panel almost unanimously believed that while creativity and technology are proving to be boons for the growth of the media and entertainment industry and helping it inch towards reaching a billion consumers, the regulation bit needs to be worked on to smoothen the process.

MUMBAI: Discovery Kids is all set to air eco-adventure series ?The Green Squad? from 18 February.

The show will air on Discovery Kids at 5 pm from Monday to Friday with a repeat telecast at 12.30 pm.

The Green Squad, the channel says, offers a fine blend of entertainment with environment-based learning through its intelligent storyline and engaging characters.

Claire, Thomas, Julian and Wifi in the series are on a mission to protect endangered animals and save Earth?s natural treasures.

Through a global blogging network and the help of allies in the most unexpected places, they tackle all kinds of environmental issues. They find a new home for iguanas, solve a water crisis for a herd of thirsty zebras, discover alternatives to a pesticide problem and even face dangerous poachers.

Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific SVP and GM South Asia Rahul Johri said, ?Discovery Kids continues to offer programmes that enlighten and entertain kids. The Green Squad lends captivating narratives on saving the planet?s natural treasures.?

MUMBAI: Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific senior vice president & general manager ?South Asia Rahul Johri was conferred the "CEO of the Year" award at the Broadcasting Industry Awards organised by the World Brand Congress.

With over 19 years of experience in the industry, Rahul has worked across media verticals, from news channels, magazines and news dailies.

The award was given in recognition of Johri?s impactful strategy in establishing Discovery as the leading non-fiction media company in the country and his inspiring leadership to build a robust and varied portfolio of eight unique channels, led by the leading factual entertainment brand - the Discovery Channel.

Johri has been responsible for the company?s expansion and growth including its localisation strategy and launch of multiple language feeds across brands. His venture to launch the game changing channel in the kids genre, Discovery Kids, has received industry wide applaud. His recent initiative is Discovery?s association with India Today Group to launch Discovery Channel Magazine in India.

Johri said, "It is an honour for the entire company. I am grateful to my team, our esteemed partners and stakeholders in the region who have shared the spirit of commitment in making Discovery as one of the most respected television brands in South Asia.?

The jury said, ?The distinction compliments Rahul Johri?s innovative thinking and creative leadership which has translated into business excellence.?

Johri joined Discovery in 2001 and currently leads its South Asia operations. He is responsible for the overall growth strategy of India?s highest quality factual and lifestyle portfolio including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery HD World, Discovery Tamil and Discovery Kids.

Rahul is also credited with commissioning a range of acclaimed series including Living with a Superstar: Shah Rukh Khan, What Not to Wear: India, Oh My Gold!, and Be Blunt with Adhuna Akhtar. He also spearheaded Discovery Channel?s association with Yash Raj Films for the latest release Jab Tak Hai Jaan and with the Indian Army for its women officers? expedition to Mount Everest in 2012.

Johri is a Board Member and Treasurer of Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF). He is also a member of the media and entertainment committee of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and member of the Media & Entertainment Division of Ficci