AOL launches South Cinema channel on AOL.in

Media News

Bangalore, August 07, 2008

In a first of its kind, AOL has launched an exclusive southern entertainment section called South Cinema for its India portal www.aol.in. The new channel aims to cater to both local and global audiences, offering high quality entertainment content from the Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam film industries.

AOL's portals have always been known for featuring world class entertainment content. In fact, the India portal has received overwhelming response to its Bollywood channel. In a true coup of sorts, it shows up as one of the top 10 searches for "Bollywood" in Google Search. This increasing demand for customized local content and AOL's success in the field was one of the catalysts behind the launch of South Cinema.

Well–known Kannada actor and director Ramesh Aravind, on occasion of the launch said – "South Indian movies are rapidly capturing the imagination of the world. Movie buffs all over the country are displaying an increasing interest in the news, latest events and stars of southern cinema and it is our responsibility to ensure that our fans are not disappointed. The AOL South Cinema site, with its exclusive information, fresh content and interesting photographs - is well suited to fill this growing need."

AOL.in is now going to offer extensive news, latest trailers, music videos, party reels, star and movie wallpapers, interviews, movie reviews, film gossip and celebrity specials for the southern movie buffs. The site also plans to run contests with prizes like exclusive movie tickets and 'meet the stars' opportunities in order to drive consumer traffic.

In a bid to remain fresh and interesting, the site aims to constantly host tailor made promo sites for upcoming south Indian movies as well as create season special sites. For example, this monsoon, visitors to AOL South Cinema can check out their 'Monsoon Mania' promos focusing specifically on the southern actresses. Also worth a dekko is the promo site for the much awaited Rajnikanth starrer Kuselan. This microsite will offer die - hard Rajni fans with movie wallpapers, photo galleries, video clips, trailers, articles, screensavers and juicy tid-bits about the movie - not to mention Rajnikanth in all his twenty avatars.

"India's online market is facing rapid growth and along with it, the needs of millions of our users are also undergoing change. Customized content that suits the tastes of the local audience has always been a key focus area and we are certain that South Cinema will meet this growing demand", says P. G. Ponnapa, Vice-President and General Manager, India Portal.

The channel can be accessed at www.aol.in/southcinema

For further information, please contact:

AOL

Payal Banerjee

E-mail: payal.banerjee@corp.aol.com

Mobile: 9845175351

Madison

Dhanashree B.M

E-mail: dhanu.blr@madisonindia.com

Mobile:9845719441