MUMBAI: It’s making an epic shift. Epic TV which saw the departure of its founder and MD Mahesh Samat for Disney last year, is now positioning itself as an infotainment channel, broadening its programming from just mythology and history and adding a wide array of original content across various genres.
Promoted by Samat along with investments from Anand Mahindra and Mukesh Ambani, the channel began by showcasing some of the most well produced programmes in India. But it failed to get commercial traction courtesy distribution issues and the fact that a mass of Indians prefer soaps and drama series as compared to the Hindi GECs a compared to the original and unique Indian programming it offered.
Aditya Pittie – one of the largest distributors for the Patanjali group – came in to manage and run the channel as a director last year and has since been working on its relaunch.
Says Pittie: “The infotainment genre is a content driven destination colonized by international players and syndicated programming with infrequent home-grown shows available. There is an evident and growing discrepancy in what is available and what popular sentiment demands. In this divide is the opportunity that Epic is best positioned to capitalise on.”
Pittie has been in conversation with various producers to shore up the content on the Epic. Viewers can expect programming bouquet to be expanded to include a mix of non-fiction content that aspires to imbibe the diversity of India. And a regular calendar of commissioned programmes that that explore, discover and inspire pride are slated to be rolled out.
Amongst the first includes a show hosted by the swashbuckling former Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag, who continues his form through social media and cricket commentary.
“This is the first TV show that Sehwag is hosting and he is a perfect fit for the Epic brand,” explains Aditya. “We Indians, as people, are very emotional. So, instead of treading the predictable path of logic-driven sterilised content, the content showcased on Epic is just like India - an honest portrayal of the passions and emotions that make us who we are.”
