Viveat Susan Pinto
Media

Genre-led time bands to call the shots at Discovery

From the third week of April, Discovery will have three distinct timebands around wildlife, history and mystery at 7 pm, 9 pm and 11 pm respectively

Evening prime time on Discovery will see a slight facelift from the third week of April.

Branded time blocks at 7 pm, 9 pm and 11 pm will vie for viewer attention focusing on wildlife, history (called Chronicles) and mystery (After Dark) respectively.

The initiative, says Raja Balasubramanian, brand director – marketing, Discovery Networks Limited, is aimed at organising programming time more effectively on the channel. “Traditionally, 7 pm has been our wildlife slot. And, we intend sticking to that. We felt that history-related programming could be clubbed together under one block at 9 pm. The same logic applies for the late-night shows.”

The genres that are critical to Discovery’s programming mix include these three categories as well as science & technology.

Of this, wildlife is given the least weightage in terms of promotions owing to the channel’s customary association with it. “Wildlife programming has always been a part of our offering. Hence, it is a given that we will have shows that focus on it,” says Balasubramanian.

Currently, what the channel is banking on is a two-part mini series titled Virtual History, which will premiere on March 12 at 9 pm. The second episode, which is the main one (titled ‘ The Secret Plot to Kill Hitler’), will go on air at 8 pm.

Produced after three-years of mammoth effort by UK-based Tiger Aspect Productions, the episode recreates key moments during the Second World War, namely, the day of July 20, 1944, when Hitler’s generals attempted to assassinate him.

Using computer graphics, the faces of Hitler, Winston Churchill, Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt have been superimposed onto the faces of the actors to “bring alive history”.

Discovery will unleash a national print campaign on March 12 & 13 to promote the show. Radio will also be used aggressively to communicate the message, adds Balasubramanian.

Some other interesting shows to follow Virtual History include ‘Days that Shook the World’ and ‘Egypt Week’ in April and the ‘Science of Star Wars’ in June.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!

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