Zee to launch 3 new channels  ( June '5,2003, BS)

The Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Telefilms will be launching three new channels as part its bouquet for the conditional access system (CAS). The company will soon launch separate channels for business news, women’s programmes and comedy shows.

According to company officials, work on the channels has started and the business news channel will be launched around the time the new system is rolled out. The other two channels will come later.

The three channels planned by the company will be free to air, taking the total number of free-to-air channels in the Zee-Turner bouquet to six.

The other free-to-air channels in the bouquet are ETC, ETC Punjabi and Zee Music.

The company has also moved its application to the information and broadcasting ministry and is awaiting its approval to uplink from India. “As per our plans, the launch of the business news channel will coincide with the rollout of CAS.

We have applied to the information and broadcasting ministry for approval to uplink the channel from India,” Lakshmi N Goel, director, news group of Zee Telefilms, told Business Standard.

The women’s channel will be known as Zee Manasi, while the comedy channel will be named Zee Comedy. This will be the first attempt by any television broadcaster to launch such channels in India.

The company has decided to add new channels to its bouquet to rope in more viewers. It has recently launched a 24-hour reality channel called Reality TV and a fashion channel called Trend.

According to industry sources, the company is finalising content-related strategy for the women’s and comedy channels.

The business news channel will focus on domestic economic development with stress on the core sectors. “Our business news channel will be different from the other business channels. There will be a strong focus on domestic economy and its impact on our lives,” said Goel.

As per the company’s plans regarding CAS, its distribution company, Siti Cable, will be offering 55 free-to-air channels. The Zee-Turner bouquet is priced at Rs 50 and offers 17 channels, including the Zee channels and channels like CNN among others.