MUMBAI: Alliance One's infotainment channel Discovery has slotted a slew of new programmes to ring in the New Year 2004.
The channel - which claims to have offered the entire English channel genre a stiff competition in 2003 - has lined up shows for the first quarter of next year, January to March.
The first among the new launches is Battlefield Detectives, which will air every Monday 9 pm to 10 pm, starting today (29 December) . The programme designed to unravel the secrets behind the world's most fascinating military mysteries, will cover nearly thousand years of conflict.
Battlefield Detectives profiles seven of the most fascinating battles in history, says a company release. Complied by archaeologists, forensic scientists, metal-detector specialists and military experts, who ventured into famous battlefields, unearthed evidence and pieced together the events, the series will recreate battle scenes and replicate weaponry.
According to Discovery Communications (India) director - marketing Aditya Tripathi, "Battlefield Detectives explores landmark battles that have altered the course of history forever. We chose to bring this programme to India as it would appeal to a wide variety of people - from history buffs to military junkies, students, and everyone who loves a well-told story."
In its yearend report, the channel has claimed to enjoy high reach among SEC A and B (viewers include entire family) through time bands including Sunrise, Woman's Hour, Healthy Living, Discovery Kids, Action Zone, Family Time and Late Night Discovery.
In what seems like a bid to consolidate its claim, the channel will launch three specials: Herakleion: Lost Temple to the God on 25 January '04, at 7 pm, Iceman: Hunt for a killer on 15 February at 7 pm and Alexander the great: Murder Solved on 28 March at 7 pm.
Other interesting shows will include Chef School, which profiles students and chefs at famous cookery academies (on Wednesdays 12 am); Celebrity Slimming - a complete dieter's guide (Wednesday 1 pm and Thursday 10:30 pm);Dinosaur Planet, a peek into the world of Dinosaurs (Wednesdays at 10 pm); City Cabs, all about countries and their taxis (Thursday 10 pm);Thirsty Traveller - a guide to some of amazing places and their wines (on Fridays 11:30 pm) and Fashion Street , a low down on fashion, kitsch culture, modern trends (on Saturday 11 pm) - all scheduled to launch between January and March.
Amongst the heavy line up also include few popular international shows like Impact: Stories of Survival, World Poker Tour, Rivals, Monster House and While you were out. Discovery will also air new episodes of the most watched series like Baby Story, Classic Discovery, World's Best, FBI Files, Speed, Science Frontiers, Junkyard Wars and Mystery nights. 
While Discovery has already released the exhaustive list, it is yet to take a call on the dates of the launch, but channel officials offer that they should be rolled out within three months time.