Asianet launches special channel for Middle East!

After spreading its wings across the Indian Subcontinent - Middle East, USA, Europe and South Asia, Asianet, maintaining the pace of its reach has now come up with a full time dedicated Middle East Channel that would mark its launch by going on air on March 25 2010 at 11 am.

The new channel would be programming content keeping in mind the lifestyle of Keralites in the Middle East region. As of now, viewers of the Middle East get the same programming schedules that Asianet's flagship channel in Kerala offers. However, going forward the new dedicated channel for the Middle East would primarily focus on streamlining its programming schedules as per Middle East's Prime Time zone giving much more to the viewers in their free time.

Emphasizing on the same, K Madhavan, Managing Director, Asianet communications Ltd said, "There is a considerable difference in the lifestyle of Keralites in Kerala and the expatriate Keralite community living in the Middle East. As the leading and trusted television channel of thousands of Malayalis in the region, we believe that the difference in outlook and aspirations must reflect in our channel's programming to fully connect with our loyal audience here."

He further added that, "The new channel also enables us to create special programmes for the Keralites in the Middle East region and provide our advertisers with more convenient time-slots for taking their message to the desired audience. To complement the Asianet Middle East 24x7 channel, we are also planning to establish a dedicated studio to drive our Middle East programming further."

Since its inception in 1993 in Kerala, Asianet has come across a long way specially post their operations launch in Middle East in 2000. The strategy was to get as close as possible to the large population Keralites in the region and right from establishing office in Dubai Media City to launching the popular radio channel, Asianet 657 AM, it doesn't seem to do anything wrong. Not only this, the company understood this very well that an emotional connectivity with this audience is all that would attract this strong base of population in the Gulf region. And to accomplish this, Asianet organized events and stage shows related with festivals.

"We have always been committed to stay connected with our viewers", said Madhavan. "Asianet already has a powerful programming mix already that is focused on life in the Gulf. Programmes such as Gulf Round Up and City Lights give an overview of life in the Gulf. We were also the first to commence dedicated programming for events such as Dubai Shopping Festival, thus serving as a cultural bridge."

The official launch of Asianet Middle East 24X7 channel would commensurate on April 7 2010 in Dubai. But with the reach of around 4.5 million that the channel has in the Middle East region alone, it is bound to reach greater heights. The Asianet Middle East 24x7 channel will effectively replace the Asianet channel from Kerala in the entire Middle East with effect from March 25 at 11 am.