MUMBAI: Animal Planet, thus far relegated to the background while sibling Discovery hogged the headlines, is lined up for some aggressive expansion plans in India.

The channel's global head Peter Weil, who was in Bangalore recently to announce a partnership with the Bannerghatta national park reserve, said he expects to 'witness explosive growth in India.

Discussing the channel's increased focus on India, Weil said, "Animal Planet's longest promotional campaign in Bangalore was a tremendous success, increasing the channel's visibility and presence in the city." The channel has announced its plans to extend the promotional campaign to other key cities. New initiatives will be introduced in all the three critical areas - programming, distribution and marketing. Animal Planet will see a host of new programmes in the coming months, including the much-awaited Lyndal's Lifeline and Snake Buster. The distribution in key markets will be expanded to enhance access, says Weil. Innovative marketing promotions will also form a key component of the channel's market penetration strategy.

Animal Planet is unique in offering the viewers a rare perspective of the animal world, an interplay of human-animal relationships that appeal to audiences across age groups. Our focus in India will be to make the channel increasingly more visible and accessible; the acclaimed quality of content will drive viewership," says Weil.

"In India, Animal Planet enjoys excellent viewership in Bangalore and several other key cities. In response to the increasing popularity and potential of the channel, we have launched the high-decibel marketing promotion in the Bangalore. Following its success, we intend to launch same kind of promotions in other cities as well," says Discovery Communications India managing director Deepak Shourie.

The channel currently has a viewership base of 16 million households in the region.