CNN to launch South Asia-specific channel

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 2. There will be more of India - and more Indian faces - on CNN from July 1 with the launch of a new South Asia- specific channel. Prime-time viewing, beginning 8 p.m. every day, will focus on better coverage of the region, both in terms of news and current affairs and features, without cutting down on international news.

Announcing this here today, the senior vice-president, CNN International, Ms. Rena Golden, said the channel was a part of the channel's stress on ``regionalising'' its programming in order to serve ``local'' audiences better.

Similar region- specific channels in Europe and the Far-East had been ``extremely successful'', she said.

The decision was prompted by feedback from viewers, who felt that not much from their own ``backyards'' was being shown, she explained, acknowledging that attracting advertisements was also a factor.

Currently, the network's advertising revenue from this region was very modest; almost inconsequential. With more focussed regional programming, advertisers in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other South Asian countries were expected to come on board more willingly.

``The Indian subcontinent is an important market for CNN and this new service will be an attractive offering for both viewers and cable operators,'' said Mr. Anshuman Misra, managing director, Turner International India, of which CNN is a division.

Ms. Golden said most of the software for the new channel would be commissioned by CNN from independent production houses, though she declined to name them, saying, ``We are talking to quite a few of them and it wouldn't be fair to give names at this stage.''

Apart from news and current affairs, the channel would have viewer-friendly programmes on business and technology, details of which were being worked out.

She claimed the channel would be ``very, very different'' from those run by CNN's competitors. ``CNN is CNN,'' she declared though she was not able to explain how.

Among the Indian/Asian faces which will be featured on the new service, Riz Khan's would be the most familiar.

A former BBC man, he is one of CNN's more popular anchors and the first to be picked up for Asia-related programmes.

Ms. Golden said CNN was seen in an estimated four million Indian homes and with more regional programming, the number was expected to rise.

The channel was targeting the young, upwardly mobile cosmopolitan generation without compromising on the programming that appealed to a maturer audience.

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