The group had received the licence to start the new television channel about 6 months ago.

Raj Television Network already operates a bunch of channels focusing on news, general entertainment and music in different South Indian languages.

According to Amit Bose, vice-president (programming) of Raj Television Network, the organisation recently began the dry run of Raj Parivaar by telecasting songs from Hindi movies. The dry run will continue for another two months before Raj Parivaar starts functioning.

The management is also in the process of planning the content and distribution of the new Hindi-language channel, Amit Bose said. The focus of the new TV channel, he explained, will be on giving the viewers “soothing programmes” – or, in other words, “mellowed” and “light” programmes.

Raj Parivaar, Amit Bose added, will operate from Mumbai. The management has not so far made any appointments to the new channel’s key positions.

To start with, Raj Parivaar will be a free-to-air channel, but it may later turn into a pay channel.

Usually, a new general entertainment channel in Hindi would require Rs 3 crore-Rs 5 crore a month, according to Amit Bose.

In addition to Raj Parivaar, the Raj Television Network is planning to start news and music channels in Malayalam and Telugu, as well as a news channel in Kannada, Amit Bose disclosed.

At present, Raj Television Network operates a general entertainment channel in Telugu, called Vissa TV, as also a music channel in Kannada named Raj Musix Kannada.

Raj Television Network had recently entered the field of movie distribution by buying a Tamil-language movie, apart from venturing into production of movies and has produced a few films.

At present, Raj Television Network, having a total revenue of Rs 59 crore, operates 6 television channels – Raj TV, Raj News, Raj Digital Plus, and Raj Musix (all Tamil channels); Raj Musix (Kannada); and the general entertainment channel Vissa (Telugu).

Earlier in January 2010, Raj Television Network had revamped its prime-time programmes on Raj TV, its flagship channel.

To start with, the two new TV channels will be available only on the direct-to-home (DTH) platform of Tata Sky, Discovery Networks said in a statement.

Discovery Science has been described as a family-oriented channel. It will broadcast programmes which provide an “overview of how science and technology affect people’s daily life,” according Discovery Networks.

The entertainment programmes to be aired on the Discovery Science television channel will include topics like research, discoveries, human body, genetics, exploration, astronomy, space, and advances in the medical field.

Discovery Turbo will broadcast programmes related to cars, motorbikes, trucks, trains, aircraft, and yachts. The TV channel targets viewers who are “upscale males” and are interested in watching programmes on Formula One racing and other motoring events, motor clubs and trends, and celebrity motoring profiles, Discovery Networks said in the statement.

In August 2009, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific had obtained permission from India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to broadcast three more channels in India. These three channels are Discovery Turbo, Discovery Science, and Discovery HD.

According to Rahul Johri, senior-vice president and general manager-India, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, OneAlliance is working on distributing the Discovery Turbo and Discovery Science channels. The telecast of the two channels will start with the DTH of Tata Sky, but the channels will eventually be available on the other DTH platforms, too.

All the Discovery channels being aired in India at present – Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and Discovery Travel and Living – have Indian content. Discovery Science and Discovery Turbo will start with total international content, Rahul Johri said. But, as it was with the Discovery Travel and Living channel, more Indian content will be added to Discovery Science and Discovery Turbo as the two channels “mature,” Johri explained.

Both the Discovery Science and Discovery Turbo TV channels will be free of advertisement for the time being. The channels will carry advertisements after a few months, according to Rahul Johri.

The 3 existing networks of Discovery in India – Discovery Channel (a factual entertainment channel), Animal Planet (dedicated to wildlife), and Discovery Travel and Living (international lifestyle channel) – offer content in English, Hindi and Tamil languages to about 116 million cumulative subscribers.

Apart from this, the website UTVi.com is to be re-branded as bloombergutv.com

In a press release, UTV Software Communications Limited said it is India’s leading global integrated media house with business interests in television, broadcasting, games, movies, and new media. UTV India and its subsidiaries, according to the company, create, aggregate and disseminate content of various genres across varied distribution platforms.

The addition of 14-15 million television sets in India every year will “drive viewership of business news in the country,” according to Ronnie Screwvala, chairman of UTV News.

The co-branded television channel will “deliver unsurpassed real-time business, economic and political news to households across India,” UTV Software Communications said in the press release, adding that the new business channel will become “the premier outlet for broadcasting business and financial news.”

UTVi, the English-language business news channel promoted by UTV Software Communications Limited, was launched in 2008.

Andy Lack, chief executive of Bloomberg Multimedia group, said in a statement that Bloomberg, by working with UTV, is trying “to realise the shared vision of the two firms for business and financial television.”

According to the planned deal between Bloomberg and UTV Software Communications, Bloomberg, reportedly, will get a 10% stake in UTV News Limited; the business channel UTVi will get Bloomberg’s content and also will become a co-branded channel named Bloomberg-UTV.

In addition, Bloomberg will get a licence fee, but the payments will be staggered over a period of many years and Bloomberg has sought a share of the UTVi channel’s revenues.

UTVi, launched in 2008, is said to be at the bottom of the ratings list for business-news television channels, behind such channels as NDTV and CNBC TV18. Though UTVi channel has a content tie-up with ABC News, UTVi has virtually stopped using the ABC News content.

In the statement, UTV Software Communications said that, for the first time, the local newsgathering, distribution and production expertise of UTVi will be combined with the “deep financial-news capabilities and global reach of Bloomberg in order to broadcast news and information for and about the Indian market.”

Television viewers in India will have access to Bloomberg Television network’s global feed, supported by 145 Bloomberg news bureaus worldwide.

Bloomberg-UTV, the UTV Software Communications elaborated, will incorporate extensive international programming elements from Bloomberg Television’s worldwide network and the editorial and production teams of both organisations will cooperate closely.

ET Now is pegged as a convergence product, making best use of the strengths and talents of the Economic Times business newspaper. Economic Times is already the largest business newspaper in the country, and is the second-largest business newspaper in the world by readership.

ET Now takes CNBC-TV18 head-on. CNBC-TV18 is the entrenched leader of the business TV space, the most-watched business TV channel in India. ET Now is headed by Andy Mukherjee, who earlier worked for Bloomberg in Singapore. The TV project is headed by Rahul Joshi, who is also executive editor of Economic Times.

As part of strengthening ET Now and setting up a strong foundation, several senior, mid-level and junior staffers from the Economic Times have already moved to the upcoming business channel.

The name of the ET business channel and its logo were unveiled by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Economic Times awards function in Mumbai on Saturday night.

Other English business news channels currently on air in India include CNBC-TV18, NDTV Profit and the recently-launched UTV-i. ET Now is expected to be launched by March 2009.