CineMaya to take over DD India's Direc TV channel

Mumbai, Feb 25 (IANS) CineMaya Media Group, which has been providing media content to North America and South Asian since it was founded in 2000, launched a television channel, India Plus, here Saturday. It will beam Doordarshan India's Direc TV contents across the globe.

The channel's programme will comprise content that have so far been available free on India's national broadcaster Doordarshan India's Direc TV that caters to over 16 million homes in North America.

India Plus now plans to take over Direc TV channel and distribute programming, additionally, through the cable network. Apart from Doordarshan India's programming, India Plus will also broadcast select content of Doordarshan (DD)'s 25 other channels, including regional language channels, through its network in North America.

This will enable the ethnic Indian population in North America to view Indian content ranging from soap operas, sitcoms, Bollywood movies, music, current affairs, besides cultural and spiritual programming.

India-centric content independently produced in US will also be aired on the channel, CineMaya Media Group chairman Sunil Hali said.

According to Hali, India Plus will also broadcast Indian news in English, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

"India Plus was launched primarily with the intention to build delivery platforms for content about India and Indians settled abroad. We found DD's programming ideal for our needs because the target viewers of India Plus will be people of Indian origin settled in the US and other South Asian groups, such as, the Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nepalese," he said.

With additional inputs from DD, CineMaya plans to build on its production expertise. India Plus will be promoted through an array of media and marketing properties that the company owns in North America.

Besides owning media property in print, television, advertising and online, CineMaya has also launched Dhoom FM radio station.

"The multi-platform programming enables us to reach out to a larger audience in North America," CineMaya's founder and president, Nayan Padrai, said.

• Television