Discovery Travel and Living is the first 24 hour international lifestyle channel from Discovery Communications. This channel focuses mainly on lifestyle programs, including topics like cooking, health and travel. This channel was launched in the month of October 2004. Aimed at the upper and upper-middle class audiences, the Discovery Travel and Living channel also marks the global launch of the company`s lifestyle portfolio. This channel inspires its viewers to `get a lot more out of life`, this premium, stylish, niche international lifestyle channel targets savvy viewers having a `global outlook`. Discovery Travel and Living reaches a subscriber base of 15 to 17 million. The channel is distributed in India by `One Alliance` along with the company`s two existing channels, Animal Planet and Discovery Channel.
The Discovery Travel and Living channel features both imported programs and original productions. `The Great Indian Wedding` was the first local and original production of the Discovery Travel and Living Channel. This series had Blue Mango Films as its producer. Blue Mango Films is a top Indian non-fiction film company. After getting success, the channel also started to offer more Indian programming. Some of the programs that are being seen on the new channel include Celebrity Travelogues, Globe trekker, Floyd`s India, Cooking for Love (a blind date show blended with cookery), Date Patrol, Biker Build-Off, He`s Gotta Have It, Great Vacation Homes, Super homes, Other Peoples` Homes, While You Were Out, The Chris Lowell Show, Tim Brooke-Taylor`s Golf Clubs.
Rendezvous - a six-part series which captures the sounds and sights of Kolkata, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai is a weekly episode of half-hour duration telecast on Sundays at 8.30 P.M., and hosted by well-known personalities including Vasundhara Das, Sushma Reddy, Ayaan Ali Khan, Nagesh Kukunoor, Konkana Sen Sharma and Meera Vasudevan, is quite an eye catcher. Apart from Indian Rendezvous, Travel and Living also features other programs related to India - one of which is `Matter of taste` on Indian food, hosted by Mr. Vir Sanghvi.
The channel is also introducing Brunch Weekends. This is the 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. time band on Saturday and Sunday, which will feature repeats of the week`s best programs. The target audience is one that works late and travels frequently during the week so this slot will enable it to catch up on programs it has missed earlier. There are many new programs in the pipeline. One of them is `Long Way Round`, which has actors Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman travelling from London to New York via Europe, Asia and Canada. Another is `Project Runway` in which supermodel Heidi Klum heads a panel of industry hotshots. The other is a food program that will explore the different aspects of Indian food. This channel has recently announced that it is going to Sky Network Television and Free view services.
