MUMBAI: DD Direct+ consumers, starting November, will have an added network to their channel list. Following a recent agreement between ABC International and Doordarshan, Australia Network is all set to launch on DD Direct+.
Australia Network is a 24/7 entertainment and news channel offering viewers a mix of content from around Australia and the region covering news, sport, science, education, arts, children's programming, drama and English language learning. The channel is available in 45 countries across the Asia and Pacific region.
To mark the launch of the new service, the ABC's agenda-setting panel discussion programme, Q&A, wasl broadcast live from Delhi on Monday 18 November. Q & A's host, Tony Jones, led a high profile panel which included India’s Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor; former Australian cricketer Stuart MacGill; Australian-born Bollywood star Pallavi Sharda; outspoken conservative commentator Swapan Dasgupta; Tehelka editor Shoma Chaudhury and award-winning TV host and journalist Karan Thapar. The panel discussed issues of mutual interest to both countries in front of an audience comprising both Indians and Australians.
ABC International is also set to launch a new website for India, AustraliaPlus.com/India - the new digital home of the best of Australian content covering arts and culture, business, education, health, lifestyle, news and current affairs, science, sports, technology and travel. The website will offer content in both English and Hindi as well as will have an Indian news feed from Doordashan. The website's launch closely follows the introduction of ABC International's Chinese mobile phone app into the China market last month.
"As 2013 nears an end, we are seeing an enormous growth in the sharing of content between India and Australia through a number of channels," said ABC International CEO Lynley Marshall.
Marshall said the initiatives reflected the growing demand for more information about contemporary Australian life, the growing connections in business, education and tourism and the people to people links.
DD Direct+ CEO Jawhar Sircar said, "We really look forward to having ABC hosted on our DD Direct+ as it helps Indians to understand and appreciate Australia and its culture in a far better manner, and with more depth than at present.”
“We also look forward to ABC assisting and guiding us in telling Australian audiences more about India, its people, and its culture,” he added.
Australia Network is also available in key metropolitan markets across the Indian sub-continent via a number of regional cable and satellite television operators.
