Discovery invites upscale urban couples for a Sunday date

Pritha Mitra

agencyfaqs!

MUMBAI

Lifestyle channel, Discovery Travel & Living, plans to strengthen its Sunday evening programming with three new reality shows – ‘Things I Hate About You’, ‘Faking It’, and ‘American Chopper’. These shows are aimed at upscale urban couples.

As Aditya Tripathi, brand director, Discovery Travel & Living, explains, “We have witnessed a considerable shift in the media consumption habits, especially among upscale urban households. And above all, except for movies, soaps or dramas, there weren’t any entertaining television on Sunday evening for this segment of viewers”

“This has created a demand for alternative programming, which can be fulfilled by niche channels such as Discovery Travel & Living,” he adds.

Media planners and buyers seem to be positive about the quality of the Discovery shows. At the same time, some of them feel that the biggest challenge for the show will be to compete with Kaun Banega Crorepati 2 at the same time band. This Amitabh Bachchan starrer, when launched, is expected to bring down the viewership of all television programmes across channels.

Hiren Pandit, general manager, Mindshare Mumbai, says, “The launch of KBC is certainly going to affect all television programmes and across all the channels. But Discovery Travel & Living is too niche a channel with a small number of viewers to be affected by the KBC.”

He adds, “I am also sure that Discovery Travel & Living is definitely not targeting the typical KBC audience.”

Punitha Arumugam, group CEO, Madison Media, says, “I found all the three shows to be path-breaking and brilliant. In addition, Discovery Travel & Living has a loyal set of audience, although small in number. So, I don’t think that its viewership would be affected by KBC.”

‘Things I Hate About You’ is a reality show on a couple’s relationships, where every week, one couple will get the opportunity to spar against each other and prove which one of them has the most annoying habits.

‘Faking It’ is also a reality show, where participants are pulled out from their natural habitats and are given four weeks to master a foreign skill well enough to fool a group of industry judges. For instance, a computer nerd becomes a fashion model, or a soccer player transforms into a salsa dancer.

‘American Chopper’ profiles the lives of New York natives, Paul Teutul Sr. and son Paul Jr. of Orange County Choppers (OCC). The duo is the creator of the world's most outrageous custom motorcycles. It’s a day-to-day drama of this volatile father and son team as they battle impossible deadlines – and each other – to push the envelope of motorcycle design and fabrication.

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