HISTORY TV18 completes one glorious year of 'Factual Entertainment' in India!

Global Factual Entertainment Powerhouse HISTORY entered the Indian market a year back with a joint venture between TV18 and A+E Networks. With a clear intent of redefining the factual entertainment genre, HISTORY TV18 succeeded in attaining the same within barely six months of entering the genre.

 

The channel has carved a niche for itself with its edgy and differentiated programming mix featuring shows with greater emphasis on creating fact-based entertainment, thrill and action formats that appeal to a much wider audience. Soon after its launch, HISTORY TV18 accelerated growth for the entire genre from 2% and 15% in ’10 and ’11 to a whopping 29% post launch*. The channel now reaches over 72 million viewers** and is available in over 55 million households across the country while reaching a million fans on Facebook***.

 

Through an eclectic mix of local and international shows as well as initiatives like ‘A Passage Through India’, ‘The Olympian Effort’, ‘India on 4 Wheels’, ‘Ice Road Truckers’, ‘Dare Devils’among others, HISTORY TV18 has achieved the desired connect with diverse audiences. With its first local production ‘The Greatest Indian’, the channel impacted viewers across socio-economic demographics whilst generating enormous buzz on social media platforms. 20 million viewers across the nation tuned into the grand finale of The Greatest Indian across various platforms. A first for any news or factual channel led initiative. 

 

As part of its special anniversary celebration, HISTORY TV18 has introduced HISTORY’s HOT SHOTS, a recap of some of the most popular series aired on the channel in the last 1 year. Beginning October 7th, the channel will air some of its top-rated global shows like ‘IRT Deadliest Roads’, ‘Food Tech’, ‘Pawn Stars – Season 2’, ‘Ax Men – Season 4’, ‘Around the World in 80 Days’, ‘Top Shot –Season 1’,  and ‘Chasing Mummies’.

 

Sean Cohan, Executive Vice President, International for A+E Networks said, “India is an important market for A+E Networks, and we’ve been thrilled by HISTORY TV18’s performance.  From launch, the channel has made a tremendous impact in the competitive factual entertainment category.  Ajay has assembled a very talented team of executives and we are confident that the channel will continue to be a leader.”

 

B.Sai Kumar, Group CEO, Network18 said “We have always believed in making a radical difference in every domain we operate in and the HISTORY TV18 launch best epitomizes this. The undertaking has been flawless, impactful with a healthy disrespect for established rules of the game. Our factual entertainment venture is critical to our growth strategy in a digitized market and History TV18 has marked an important milestone in that journey”.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Ajay Chacko, President, A+E Networks | TV18, says, “We’re happy to have made our mark with HISTORY TV18, the first product of our partnership with A+E Networks. We hope to continue to play a pivotal role in growing the genre through the launch of many more initiatives and replicate the leadership position A+E Networks enjoys across the world.”