Sony BBC Earth to Launch in India

MUMBAI: Sony BBC Earth will go live in India on March 6.

The factual-entertainment channel is from MSM Worldwide Factual Media, a joint venture between Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) and BBC Worldwide. Sony BBC will bring award-winning, premium factual content from BBC Worldwide to more than 500 million of SPN’s viewers across India. It will be available in both SD and HD in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

The channel will have defined programming slots: Why, How & What on Earth at 8 p.m. for fun and insightful science; Wild Wild Earth at 9 p.m. for nature and wildlife; and Earth Explorers at 10 p.m. for adventure and human interest stories. Weekends will showcase distinctive stories with a special slot: Earth Specials. Key launch shows include The Hunt, Where The Wild Men Are with Ben Fogle, Trust Me I’m A Doctor, Snow Chick and Planet Earth II, among others.

NP Singh, the CEO of Sony Pictures Networks India, said: “Sony Pictures Networks is known to create compelling and differentiated brands across all genres that it operates in. Nurtured as a JV partnership, Sony BBC Earth, combines the strengths of both partners; including fascinating content, estimable brand equity and superior sales and distribution prowess. This gives Sony BBC Earth a distinct positioning and watchability. I am confident that this channel will be a major player in its category.”

Paul Dempsey, the president of global markets at BBC Worldwide, added: “This joint venture is a pioneering model for us in global markets. By working with a respected local partner of the caliber of Sony Pictures Networks, we look forward to bringing BBC Earth’s world class content to a new audience who we know has a huge appetite for premium factual programming.”

Saurabh Yagnik, the executive VP and business head of the English cluster at Sony Pictures Networks India, commented: “SPN’s philosophy is to create brands based on deep consumer understanding. We have worked extensively with viewers to sharpen our insights into what they want and have synergized this understanding with our compelling content and storytelling. Our brand positioning of ‘Feel Alive’ captures the emotion of subliminal happiness which viewers experience when they consume our content. This has been brought to life through a clutter-breaking film featuring our ‘Feel Alive’ ambassador, Kareena Kapoor Khan—whose persona embodies positivity, happiness and full of life demeanor that naturally blends with what our channel and its content stands for.”