History, a factual entertainment channel which has re-entered India through a joint venture between the US-based A+E Networks and TV18, aims to extend the appeal of its genre rather than compete for market share right away. Known earlier as The History Channel, it ran for about two years in India in alliance with Star TV but exited in 2008.

Speaking to Business Line here, Ms Sangeetha Aiyer, General Manager (Marketing), AETN 18 Media Pvt. Ltd, said the viewership share of the factual entertainment genre accounted for only 1.5 per cent of all TV channels now but has been growing at 30 per cent year on year since 2008. General/fiction-based entertainment channels (GEC) account for 60 per cent.

Available in six languages (Bengali, English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu), History will reach 50 million households in C&S homes in the launch phase, Ms Aiyer said. Actor Salman Khan is the brand ambassador. About Rs 18 crore is being spent on marketing. Similar channels in India include Discovery, National Geographic, TLC, Animal Planet, NDTV Good Times and Fox History & Traveller. The GRPs (gross rating points) hover between 30 and 35 weekly; History hopes to raise them to 60-65.

Worldwide, general and factual entertainment genres compete closely for viewership. “Action, drama, thrill, adventure – these are what people look for in any programme, and our genre too offers all this,” she said. The channel offers shows such as Sliced , which reveals the inner workings of gadgets, toys and machines; Top Shot , a reality show where people have to compete using weapons made over the centuries, and Strange Rituals.

Fitting history in

Ms Aiyer says the channel positions itself on history as it is “made every day” – “All of these programmes have history in them, it's just that it's not doled out like history.” It is packaged as fact-based entertainment, as thrill and action formats to appeal to a much wider audience. The traditional audience for this genre are the 40-45-year-olds but History is hoping to draw in audiences aged 15 and above, across SEC A, B and C, she said.

The advertising revenue of the factual entertainment genre is estimated at Rs 200-220 crore a year. However, it hasn't been able to monetise the viewership very well despite having five times as many viewers as English news and business news channels which make five times as much, going by Adex and Tam data, Ms Aiyer said.

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