Epic Television Networks Pvt. Ltd., led by Mahesh Samat; announced the launch of ‘EPIC’, India’s first genre specific Hindi entertainment channel that will offer content set against the backdrop of Indian history, folklore and mythology, in a unique contemporary format. ‘EPIC’ is expected to go on air in August 2013, subject to regulatory approval. The launch of EPIC is a significant milestone in the Indian media landscape, as it pioneers the opening of a new category in Hindi entertainment, termed as ‘segmented’. A ‘segmented’ category in television presents thematic content that is focused on a particular genre, thereby, offering increased choice and different viewing opportunities. Internationally, with increasing audience fragmentation, broadcasters are creating and distributing genre-specific content to attract and engage a clearly defined target audience. As a result, television content globally is witnessing a growing wealth of viewing opportunities for consumers, across diverse genres such as comedy, action, crime, etc. In India, with the substantial size and consumption of the Hindi entertainment category, there is an increasing opportunity to create thematic entertainment that would offer more choices for viewers. Although we have 800+ TV channels, most of the content is general entertainment. However, growth of digitization is leading to fragmentation of audiences, thereby creating an opportunity for differentiated and genre specific content. Moreover, increasing digital households are giving rise to increased audience expectations and demand for more diverse viewing opportunities. The latest FICCI Frames KPMG report has also indicated that digitization is expected to open up more avenues for broadcasters to launch subscription driven, specialty channels in India. Under this scenario, EPIC will celebrate India’s heritage by creating unique and original content within the Indian history, folklore and mythology genre, using a very contemporary story telling format. This will be a first of its kind channel, which will present a distinct choice to audiences by offering content in a specific genre. EPIC is the only channel that will have all its shows shot from an HD camera since inception. Currently there are 72 million digital households in India and is expected to grow to 179 million by 2017. This full HD channel is planned to be available on all DTH and Digital platforms across all major markets in India and will attempt to reach out to all digital households in the launch phase. Mahesh Samat, Managing Director, Epic Television Network Pvt. Ltd Said, “In India, multiplexes changed the movie viewing experience where one could actually pick and choose the movie they wanted to see. A family could watch different content based on their individual interests. With digitization, we believe that there is an opportunity for 'multiplexing' television, where viewers have the choice to consume genre-specific content of their liking. EPIC will be a first of its kind segmented channel in the Hindi entertainment category, offering a compelling and modern take on Indian history and mythology. Our vision is to create a brand in television that will translate our vibrant past into entertainment with the objective of creating new IPs, strong characters and new heroes that strike a chord with mass audiences.” EPIC will have action, drama, comedy, supernatural and narrative non-fiction content, set against Indian historic and mythological eras. The stories will be innovative with high production quality and a distinct look & feel that will appeal to both men and women. EPIC will be the only channel to have shot at real locations in HD. Many well-known production houseswill be producing shows for the channel. The programming strategy will contain a mix of fiction shows, narrative non-fiction shows, short form content as well as films at launch.