MUMBAI: Taking the Theme Week series forward from 6-24 March, Discovery Travel and Living presents India-centric themes to enforce its positioning as a niche channel with premium content.
The focus this quarter is on promoting appointment viewing in the prime time band. The channel will air the Incredible India Week from 6-10 March, Floyd Week from 13-17 March and Romance Week from 20-24 March in the 9 pm time slot.
Discovery Networks India vice president- Lifestyle Networks Aditya Tripathi spoke to indiantelevision.com on the upcoming series."The Theme Weeks are not stopping. The Week series will continue in April also, so this quarter's (January to March) is just one of the on-going series," said Tripathi.
Host Asha Gill in Mumbai episode of Incredible India Week
On what is unique in the Incredible India episodes,Tripathi says,"Incredible India Week is an anthology of special India-specific episodes carefully selected from the channels popular food and travel series. It presents a vibrant India, through its rich and varied cuisine, festivals and culture. It highlights unique aspects of India, especially from a tourism point of view, which is what the channel is all about."
Episodes in Incredible India Week include Madhur Jaffrey's Flavours of India showcasing the cuisine from West Bengal and Punjab and Planet Food's episode covers the delicacies of Southern India. Also, the travel episode, from the series Lonely Planet, discovers the fast life of Mumbai. The concluding episode of the week from Globe Trekker presents the eclectic India.
"The programmes have been acquired from various production houses. The anchors are different for each episode like Madhur Jaffrey, Padma Lakshmi, Megan McCormick to name a few," adds Tripathi.
Just like for the Project Runway week aired in early February, Tripathi mentions that the channel has signed exclusive advertisers such as Motorola, Pepsi, Nokia, Wrigleys, Maruti and Coke for the Incredible India week . The series is also going to be promoted through print advertising and on-air promotions and promotion activities will vary from title to title.
Keith Floyd is a cook who has produced many cooking shows for the BBC and Channel 5 and has tremendous fan following in India. He has travelled widely to cook local dishes and entertain people around the world. In his usual candid and occasionally world-weary manner, Floyd compares and contrasts regional foods and customs in India, highlighting the highs and lows on the way.
Floyd is featured in a special Floyd Week starting 13 March."It will feature two half-hour shows back to back - Floyd's India and Floyd Uncorked. In the series on Indian food, host Floyd will take viewers to West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Jaipur and Goa," says Tripathi. He added that Wrigleys is sponsoring Floyd Week.
On what to expect in the Romance Week, Tripathi says,"To celebrate the romantic mood and spirit we present five special romantic programmes under the theme Romance Week. It captures the essence of romantic getaways. Viewers get to see some of the most romantic locations in the world. Each episode explores several attractions in one locale. The week introduces viewers to the secret hideaways, finest quality wines and foods and the most relaxing activities and charming sights possible." Here too, the channel has got brands like Nokia, Nestle Kit Kat, Coke and Maruti to sponsor the series.
