Discovery, Inc in India virtually showcased its annual Upfront presentation to advertisers and marketers, outlining its content strategy and an exciting programming line-up for 2022. In the presence of Discovery Inc. South Asia MD Megha Tata, South Asia head of distribution and Eurosport Network Ruchir Jain, South Asia head of advertising sales Shaun Nanjappa, the grand event saw Discovery reinstate its brand promise of bringing the most diverse content covering lifestyle, kids and sports genres, spanning across its linear brands like Discovery Channel, Discovery Kids, TLC and Eurosport.
Joined by over 1000 people across sectors like FMCG, pharma, automobile, advertising, media, lifestyle, tech and more, the event also had actor Vidyut Jammwal and author Amish Tripathi interact with Megha Tata about their passions and interests.
Over the previous year, Discovery India network has cemented its position as a leader, commanding close to 50 per cent category share in the infotainment category with nine out of top 10 shows of 2021 belonging to Discovery Channel. Pushing the envelope further in creating inspiring content, the network successfully emerged amongst the top four in terms of growth. 2021 proved to be a year of new milestones for Discovery Network, with the brand garnering 182 per cent higher reach than the English News Genre and 112 per cent higher than that of leading English GEC and English Movie Channels combined in terms of the weekly data. Adding further value and credibility, Eurosport also witnessed an impressive growth in viewership from Q1 within two years of its launch. The overwhelming response thus encourages Discovery to take a leap ahead in its vision for 2022 by bringing 5X hours of original content – the highest number of originals ever produced in the infotainment category across genres and formats.
Shedding light on the kids genre, the event highlighted how Discovery Kids has successfully diversified their offerings and built a roster of engaging content for the little ones. One of its flagship properties, Little Singham V/s Black Shadow was pronounced as number one show of 2021 demonstrating the popularity of the franchise. Riding on this burgeoning craze for Little Singham, Discovery Kids is all set to further expand the franchise with two new properties Little Singham in 3D and Baby Little Singham as a treat for its young fans in 2022. With a renewed focus on experimentation, and diversification of business, the channel aims to add 2X hours of content in the first half of 2022 comprising some of the most entertaining stories and themes.
With titles like Into the Wild with Bear Grylls featuring Vicky Kaushal, Star vs Food Season two starring Anil Kapoor, Janhavi Kapoor, Ananya Panday, Nora Fatehi, Badshah and Zakir Khan, Mission Frontline featuring Sara Ali khan, Farhan Akhtar and Rohit Shetty, and Money Mafia season one and two, India’s Space Odyssey, the documentary that looks at the 60-year journey of the space sector in India, fans of Discovery channel will be up for a visual treat this year with a content slate headlined by some of India’s leading celebrities. In addition to these, the Indian version of the hit international franchise Say Yes to The Dress! India will also premiere on TLC.
Eurosport India also promises an extravaganza for all sports enthusiasts, with world class titles this year. Home to the world’s greatest sporting events, the channel will further build on the cult appeal for MotoGP, along with AFC Women’s Asian Cup, PGA Tour, UCI Track Champions League, AEW, Tour de France, amongst others. With a renewed vision to embrace homegrown leagues and sports, Eurosport India will continue to focus on being the go-to -destination for passionate sports fans across the country.
Reinstating Discovery Inc’s consistent efforts to be a partner of confidence to eminent stakeholders, the event offered a look-back at the key branded properties across categories like Edtech, Auto, Finance, Telecom, and more. From India’s largest televised quiz show, Discovery School Super League Powered by BYJU’s, to the association with Hershey’s Jolly Rancher Lollipops for Little Singham, to projects with the Government, the network plans to create stronger synergies across short and long format content in the year ahead.
Speaking at India Sales Upfront 2022, Tata said, “As a network, we are driven by creative solutions and committed to offer a holistic and integrated brand experience to the diverse stakeholders. With innovation at core, we aim to leverage the power of Discovery’s legacy to create ground-breaking stories and emerge as a brand of confidence to our partners. We’ve had a heady kickstart to 2022 and are set for a riveting content repertoire ahead. We hope to further amplify the momentum not only with offerings that is genre binding and authentic but also create seamless synergies across touchpoints adding value to the ever-evolving appetite of our target demographic.”
Jain said, “Overwhelmed with the success of Discovery’s Virtual Upfront 2022, I would like to thank our partners and advertisers for their unwavering support in making Eurosport India a household name in no time. Delving beyond the realms of mainstream sports has spiked our viewership by a whopping 158 per cent since Q1. Our upcoming lineup of sports has been liked by all the stakeholders and we are excited to bring it all on Eurosport in the coming months, making 2022 certainly look bright for us!”
Sharing his thoughts Nanjappa added, “As a network, Discovery in the past year has not only completed over 40 projects successfully but carved a niche for itself with constant support received from our stakeholders throughout. Our varied offerings across diverse genres and tailor-made 360-degree business solutions helped us strengthen our footprint in the infotainment category and we will keep our focus in making content the hero!” He further added, “We will continue to experiment as the trends change and come up with differentiated offerings through our partnerships that emerge as successful milestones for the brand as well as our stakeholders.”
