Discovery India to Launch New Digital Channels in 2018; Announces Partnership With YouTube, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Play

Discovery Communications India (DCIN)announced today that it is planning to make a mark in the Indian digital space with the launch of bespoke direct-to-consumer, social and mobile-first channels in early 2018. The new mobile-first channels will focus on four core-interest areas – ‘Military’, ‘Girlist’, ‘Automotive’ and ‘Food’. The first two channels to launch will be VEER by Discovery and RISE by TLC in Q1 2018. These will be followed by specialist automotive and food-focused mobile-first channels later in the year.

“With an unrivalled content library across these areas, DCIN is uniquely positioned to launch and further develop these special-interest verticals across various social and mobile platforms while also nurturing and nourishing these audience communities with meaningful content,” said DCIN in a media release.

Digital video consumption in India in the past two years has seen a sizeable growth, and DCIN is looking to leverage on the same. DCIN sees India as a big market opportunity in the digital content space.

These mobile first channels from DCIN will have bespoke digital-first mid-form and short-form content. The company also stated that in the first year itself, VEER by Discovery and RISE by TLC would offer consumers 100+ hours of original content in India.

Furthermore, to optimise and maximise the launch of these channels across social and mobile platforms, DCIN has partnered with YouTube, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Play.

Talking about the initiative, Karan Bajaj, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Discovery Communications India, said, “We are thrilled to take Discovery digital in India and accelerate engagement with the growing base of young consumers who are increasingly snacking short form content. These passionate communities form an integral part of the consumption pattern across digital media, and we see this trend accentuating further in future. Our digital channels will help us ramp up reach across linear and digital platforms by almost three times making it an irresistible proposition for the advertisers who will now have the option to reach out to premium consumers across our linear network and presence across the most popular social and mobile platforms.”

The VEER by Discovery channel is all about our brave armed-forces, while the RISE by TLC channel is a digital-first channel for women giving wings to young Indian women with its progressive, clutter-breaking content.