MUMBAI: Tata Sky has tied up with Singapore based media company MediaCorp and announced the launch of Channel NewsAsia International on Tata Sky. The memorandum was signed on November 19.
The pan-Asian channel will be available to the subscribers on channel number 535. Channel NewsAsia will be clubbed with the other English news channels available on the DTH platform and is priced at Rs.8. The channel will be a part of the a-la-carte and is a part of Tata Sky’s English news pack.
Channel NewsAsia started in March 1999 and is a Singaporean English language Asian cable television news agency and news channel. The channel is ranked among the top three most preferred English news channels in Asia and has bagged two awards in the 8th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival.
NewsAsia’a distribution and marketing VP Chuk Chan Woon says, “Winning awards is just icing on the cake for us”, the channel’s programming is home to award winning content. The channel, in the past five years, has picked up 18 regional and international awards for their content. In the recent New York fest, the channel has bagged 8 awards. The channel has been nominated for 24 top level categories in the Asain Television awards.
Channel NewsAsia is all charged up to face the competition with the existing English news channels on Tata Sky, though the Chief Content and Business Development Officer of Tata Sky Paolo Agostinelli strongly avers that the launch of Channel NewsAsia in India is not just for competition or numbers. The opening of the channel in India will just expand the news channel list and will provide an additional source of information from around the globe for the sophisticated and evolving news hunters in India.
“Technology spreads awareness amongst the consumers. People are curious because of the internet, increasing literacy rate, the curiosity to know about what is happening around them. Our subscribers want more than what the Indian English news channels offer to them. They consume more news from the International news channels. We want to expand our International news bouquet for our subscribers by giving them a 360 perspective on what is happening. Adding Channel NewsAsia is just one step closer to our vision”, adds Agostinelli.
Channel NewsAsia’s relentless strive to be the leading news channel across Asia by delivering a much wanted content seems to make a huge difference in the eco system across Asia. Beyond reporting current issues, the channel also documents content to show Asia’s success. With this new perspective brought in India, the channel foresees a successful penetration in the Indian business.
Speaking with indiantelevision.com, Woon asserted, “We are truly proud to be partnering with Tata Sky. We believe that the platform will give us reach to people pan-India. We are well placed to provide the audience in India a better understanding of the whereabouts around them in a better and efficient way than the rest of Asia.”
Channel NewsAsia is geared up to launch in India with the same feed that is available in the global eco-system. The channel aims at providing increasing cosmopolitan Asian audiences an avenue to know what’s happening in the rest of Asia. The channel’s main focus will not be just reporting stories to the viewers but will also engage the onlookers about everything happening around in a story telling format. The other aim of the channel in India is to reach out to the Indian companies who wish to reach out to the Asian audience.
With the introduction of Channel NewsAsia International, Tata Sky has now expanded its bouquet of news channels to 96, which includes 14 English news channels, 22 Hindi news channels and 57 regional news channels.
