Partnership shines light on Eastern fare
WITH the demise of Saffron TV, a channel that catered for the niche Indian market and those whowere partial to all things Eastern, the TV landscape has been pretty much barren.
Yes, to an extent, SABC2’s Eastern Mosaic does whet the appetite. But, in an hour, the show cannot extensively cover much ground in the TV show, movies, and local spheres.
So when Glow TV debuted on OpenView HD last year, it generated a fair amount of excitement – especially with the content.
Now the channel is spreading its tentacles and broadening its viewership by joining the DStv platform too.
Yusuf Nabee, the channel head of Glow TV, commented on its expansion:
“We aim to achieve as wide a reach as possible,” he notes.
“DStv gives Glow TV access to an audience that has never been able to view the channel before, so we’re extremely excited about this development. Glow TV also still maintains free access via OpenView HD, so we’ve had nothing but positive feedback from viewers about extending our reach.”
A year in, what are the plans for taking the channel forward?
He reveals: “DStv is the first step. Our next goal is to expand beyond the borders of South Africa into subSaharan Africa. We’re also in the process of developing local content and are looking to introduce this during the course of 2015.”
And the content is all-encompassing with something for the whole family.
Soap buffs can indulge their sense of escapism with Parichay (weekdays at 8.30pm), centred on a middle-class Punjabi family in Mumbai and their daily woes in love and life, and Sadda Haq (weekdays at 6pm), which follows a spirited young women who, despite her father’s disapproval, soldiers on as a mechanical engineering student.
For whodunnit fans, Shaitaan: A Criminal Mind taps into everyone’s inner CSI potential.
How to be Indie gets the laughter going with 13-year-old Indira “Indie” Mehta navigating her way through junior high. It airs on Mondays at 6.30pm.
Reality TV has become a whole other beast and viewers remain enamoured – despite the different concepts.
Band Baajaa Bride (Wednesdays at 7.30pm), provides a blow-by-blow account of that drama around bridal makeovers, while Style Addict (Wednesdays at 6.30pm) takes viewers behind the scenes of Bollywood and its trends.
Mummy Ka Magic gives mums a few insightful tips on adding that fun ingredient to meal times.
The culinary exploits in Out of the World with Sanjeev Kapoor (Tuesdays at 5.30pm) travels the length and breadth of Africa a la Reza Mahammad ( Reza’s Africa Kitchen).
Given the variety and freshness of content, Glow TV is clearly dazzling its way into popularity.
Glow TV, DStv channel 167, OpenView channel 108.