The country’s first ‘Consumer TV Guidance’ channel has been rolled out by Electronic Programme Guide (EPG).
The channel is titled as ‘What’s-On-India’ and is presently available to all Hathway users. It will be the first channel that the viewers will see when they turn on their TV sets. The channel will aid TV viewers by means of informing as well as recommending a wide variety of programme choices available across multiple TV channels round the clock. This would be fully operational by around December 2009.
“The key insight guiding the company’s plans is that 70% of the times, viewers switch on their TVs without knowing exactly what to watch. The TV industry is increasingly becoming aware of this ‘unplanned viewing’ phenomenon that has been exacerbated with the growth in channels and programmes over the last few years”, said Atul Phadnis, founder, promoter and CEO of ‘What’s On India’.
According to Phadnis 70% of the viewers are in need of a search and find mode to find some interesting programs.
Abroad viewers use the TV Guide channel to plan their appointments with their TV sets. They watch promos of upcoming programmes and are able to find greater details, twists and turns of the ongoing shows, he said.
What’s On India is presently free-to-air, and is supported by advertising. The company is providing Electronic Programme Guides (EPGs) to cable and DTH operators as well.”Our mandate is to enable discovery of new content,” claims Phadnis.