FOOD first enters into content partnership with leading Intl. production houses

Real Lifestyle Network's premier offering, FOOD first, a 24 by 7 channel dedicated to food, today announced its partnership with leading international content distributors, Shine and Optomen to name a few, to acquire exclusive premium content. It has acquired exclusive broadcast rights to a range of international programmes that feature some of the best, most renowned and most entertaining personalities from the world of food such as celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay; Hollywood star with a penchant for food ' Gwyneth Paltrow, amongst others.

London based, Shine are the distributors of some very famous and successful shows like MasterChef Australia and UK based, Optomen, distributes some of the best shows of Gordon Ramsay. In an effort to create a high-quality, differentiated channel for the discerning viewer, FOOD first has cherry-picked quality content from a wide range of international content distributors across territories.

Speaking about the announcement, Manisha Tripathi, Business Head, Real Global Broadcasting Pvt. Ltd., said, "Our strategy for FOOD first is to work with like-minded production houses that create programming that naturally fit our brand's premium positioning. This strategy has led us to explore partnerships with world-class production houses like Shine and Optomen. With such remarkable content partners on board, viewers can look forward to a great line-up of international programming on the channel, along with the best in home-grown productions."

The HD (high-definition) ready channel, FOOD first, is scheduled to be launched in early 2011. The channel has conducted successful technical runs and is available on select networks across the country at this time. FOOD first, a pay channel, will be available across the country on both analogue and digital distribution platforms and will target upwardly mobile English speaking, 18+, all adult audiences.