Animal Planet is 10 years old, speaks Hindi now

Animal Planet, which was launched in 1998, has completed 10 years of successful run in India. To celebrate the occasion, the channel has rolled out a new strategy to attract and woo more viewers.

In an attempt to reach out to non-English speaking viewers, Animal Planet will now have a Hindi feed. Deepak Shourie, executive vice-president and managing director, Discovery Networks India, says, “We are now a decade old, and it’s time to take a large leap forward in terms of expanding the viewership base and offering diverse content to the viewers.”

The strategy behind going Hindi comes from the realisation that Bollywood and TV together have made the language familiar to one and all. So, the Hindi feed of the channel will help attract and sustain a new set of potential viewers.

Animal Planet plans to dish out a good mix of entertaining, informative content, while, in the process, taking on the social responsibility of generating awareness and concern about preserving the environment.

Shourie says, “Getting more advertisers on board by emphasising on content differentiation and segmentation is our focus. So, we have well known faces such as David Attenborough, Jeff Corwin and Meryl Streep in some exciting shows.”

On a lighter note, Shourie admits, “I admire people coming out with new GECs and news channels as they have tough competition on hand. And see, we have been lucky enough to be the sole player in the field. So, it’s up to us to set new benchmarks for quality and growth in the market.”