MUMBAI: After years of mastering the subsistence tactics by being dropped off in remote locales around the globe, the survival expert and extreme adventurer Bear Grylls returns with a new season of Man Vs. Wild on infotainment broadcaster Discovery every night at 9 pm from 1 November.

The new episodes will see Grylls tackling the terrain and braving the elements, from raging waters and the biting cold to mudslides and deserts, to make it out alive. Grylls will search for new extreme destinations and challenges and shares invaluable survival strategies along the way.

Discovery South Asia senior VP, GM Rahul Johri said, "Man Vs. Wild is one of the most popular programmes on Indian television. It attracts millions of viewers from across India. It also demonstrates the entertainment quotient in Discovery Channel?s unmatched programming."

Grylls has served with the British Special Forces, explored the Arctic and was the youngest British climber to complete a summit and descent on Mount Everest. In the show using his specialist survival skills, he attempts to navigate his way through these environments. Drawing upon years of experience as a soldier, mountaineer and seasoned adventurer, viewers can watch as Grylls claws his way back to civilization, armed only with a few supplies and the clothes on his back.

In this season viewers can follow Grylls as he faces obstacles that push him to his limits in the wilderness and endures the most intense journeys with some of the harshest conditions possible. Some things Grylls does are scaling towering escarpments in the Malaysian archipelago, traversing a mountain range in New Zealand?s South Island, tackling vertical drops in Arizona?s arid desert and facing blinding blizzards in Iceland.

Tagging along Grylls in an episode is the Hollywood actor Jake Gyllenhaal. For two days Grylls and Gyllenhaal embark on a survival experience to an Icelandic landscape dominated by mountains, huge glaciers and some of Europe?s most active volcanoes.

Also part of the series is a Global Survival Guide episode, which features never-before-seen footage from Bear?s challenges from around the planet.

MUMBAI: History, the factual entertainment channel from the JV between AETN and TV18, will be launched in India on 9 October.

Also planned are two more channel launches next year - Bio and Crime And Investigation.

In order to have a broader appeal, History channel will be available in six languages ? English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Marathi - at the outset. This is the first time that any channel in this genre will have a dubbed feed in Marathi.

It is worth noting that the other channels in this genre like NGC and Discovery took years before going into local languages outside Hindi.

History is looking at one more language feed a couple of months down the road. "We want to double the viewership of this genre. We feel that it is not just for the elite or for people who are well traveled or who like wildlife. We want to go beyond the six Metro game. That is why we have gone into several languages which will help us cut across SECs and age groups," History GM marketing Sangeeta Aiyer told Indiantelevision.com.

Viewership for fiction entertainment content abroad tends to be cyclical. "People get fed up of it and look for something new. This is where factual entertainment comes in. This trend will come to India as well in the next couple of years. Factual entertainment will become more mass," explained Aiyer.

History will be a high definition channel catering to the TG of SEC A,B audiences of 15 + age group.

The channel expects to have 80 per cent connectivity within three weeks of launch, said Aiyer. The marketing spend is in the region of Rs 150-170 million.

The channel has already roped in Salman Khan as the brand ambassador.

"Khan personifies what History channel is all about ? thrills, action, adventure etc. He is also not known for being associated with this genre which lends the tie up a novelty value," said Aiyer.

The tagline of the campaign is ?Kuch Naya dekho history banthe Dekho? (Watch something new see history in the making). The aim of the campaign is to get viewers to watch something new by going beyond the familiar.

History has conceptualised three TVCs and they have gone viral through facebook which will go on-air next week.

In the TVCs, Khan is a ?sutradhaar? of sorts. The TVCs have been conceptualised by McCann Erickson and directed by Prashant Issar of Tubelight Films.

"Generally history has a perception of belonging to the past and being about black and white images. We want to break this. History is being created everyday; it is contemporary. History is not about something that happened 50 years ago or about dead people," Aiyer said.

History will be conveyed in shows in an entertaining manner.

Ice Road Truckers, for instance, is about US and Canadian truckers navigating deadly roads. "While that is exciting to watch, one gets to know facts about how the Alaskan pipeline was laid out and how long it takes for an ice glacier to melt. It has also been shot in the Himalayas," Aiyer averred.

Another show called Swamp People tells you about a 300-year-old community that hunts alligators; it is about their eco-system, food habits and occupation.

"People don?t want something shown in an educational manner. They don?t want something that sounds preachy. Our treatment of shows is unique," Aiyer claimed, offering the example of Top Shot.

Top Shot, a show about weapons from different ages, is in a reality format. "16 American shooters shoot with weapons of different eras. The winner gets a prize. Viewers learn about different weapons like a bow and arrow," Aiyer elaborated.

History approaches a show on gadgets in a different manner through Sliced. Here the host takes a chainsaw and slices an object like a Volvo truck in half. He then shows viewers how the object functions. "This is far more impactful than just having a map of an object and then getting the host to show with a ruler how the object functions," Aiyer added.

On localisation of content, Aiyer said the aim is to have at least one local show within the first quarter of the channel?s launch. "But we cannot do a local show for the sake of it. That does not work. It has to have the same scale and value of international shows. We are talking to various producers," said Aiyer.

NEW DELHI: Discovery will air Curiosity from 17 October every Monday at 8 pm.

Produced with a budget of $1 million per episode, Curiosity looks to leave no stone unturned in the quest for answers.

Curiosity will look to uncover the truths behind life?s most challenging questions. Questions like why sex is so enjoyable, if one could live forever, what would happen if aliens attacked, whether there is a parallel universe, or how the world will end have perplexed mankind always.

This series has been conceived by Discovery?s founder John Hendricks and aims to capture the fundamental sense of wonder and presents an engaging visualisation of the human mind?s search for answers.

The series is designed to tackle the fundamental questions and underlying mysteries of time in fields such as space, biology, geology, medicine, physics, technology, nature, archaeology, history and the human mind.

Discovery India senior VP, GM Rahul Johri said, "Discovery Channel through its programmes empowers viewers to explore their world. Embarking on a fascinating voyage of discovery, the channel brings a new landmark series ?Curiosity? that goes to extreme lengths to seek surprising answers to underlying mysteries of our lives. From the micro to the macro, ?Curiosity? delves into most enduring and insightful subjects."

?Curiosity? dives into a world of questions posed by well-known personalities including physicist Stephen Hawking tackling the mysteries surrounding the origins of the universe, Oscar winner Morgan Freeman investigating the possibility of a parallel universe, MythBusters? Adam Savage testing if we can really live forever, award-winning filmmaker Morgan Spurlock seeing if living as a primitive caveman would actually improve our health and ?Dirty Jobs?? Mike Rowe revealing the hidden live organisms that call our bodies home.

Intel, the sponsor of the series, will use it as a global marketing platform in more than 40 countries, with key partnership elements including four ?Curiosity? premiere episodes and broad exposure in all episodes of the first season.

MUMBAI: Lifestyle channel TLC has launched a new travel series for the restless traveller- ?Xtreme Tourist?, with host and travel enthusiast Ernie Harker.

The show airs every Sunday at 9 pm on TLC.

While travelling, Harker does not just tick off a list of must-visit countries, but fervently seeks out new experiences while taking part in adrenaline-pumping activities like skydiving, hang gliding, surfing and rock climbing in each place.

Harker travels to exotic and iconic destinations around the world, including Cancun, Belize and Rio de Janeiro for some extreme sports action.

Discovery South Asia senior VP, GM Rahul Johri said, "TLC is India?s favourite destination for travel. Having reinvented the travel theme and its wide-ranging manifestations from luxury to self-driving trips, TLC has delivered on its promise of bringing the best of travel across the globe. We are delighted to introduce yet another format that Indians are excited and enthused about- adventure travel."

The show airs in TLC?s ?Just Travel@9pm? programme band dedicated to showcasing the best of travel across the world in diverse formats ranging from weekend getaways, road trips, luxury holidays, spa vacations and culinary expeditions, amongst many others.

In one episode the show?s host goes to Seattle. Ernie takes on America?s Pacific Northwest and the Snoqualmie Falls. He also rock climbs the famous REI Pinnacle and finds himself mountain biking the I-5 Colonnade Trail. If that?s not all, he goes on a cruise on Lake Union and then does kayaking at Portage Bay.

MUMBAI: From executive producer Steven Spielberg and Discovery Channel comes the story of hope from darkness, life from ashes, a dream born from a nightmare.

The non fiction broadcaster will air ?Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero? from 12- 17 September at 9 pm. This will showcase the men and women determined to rebuild and restore a sacred site, constructing the new, 104-story One World Trade Center.

Coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, the show celebrates the grit, the drive and the audacious imagination of a wide array of builder, planner and dreamers bonded in grief but united in purpose. From the iron workers who lost brothers and friends to the architect envisions a new dawn for New York City to the family members who seek closure and solace, the show assembles a cast of real people facing the highest stakes in their professional lives - to meet their construction deadline.

Discovery senior VP, GM South-Asia Rahul Johri said, "Rising:
Rebuilding Ground Zero salutes the spirit of endeavour and brings emotional stories of people?s professional involvement in this mega-construction project. It is a tribute to the brave souls that lost their lives on 9/11 as well as the people who made the memorial a reality."

The show will take a look at one of the most daunting construction jobs America has ever undertaken. Building four skyscrapers, a transportation hub, a museum and a memorial featuring the largest man-made waterfall in history - at the same time on the same site - presents an unprecedented set of engineering challenges. From the design to the materials to the raw emotions and heavy hearts, the show chronicles the teamwork and innovation involved in reining in a beast of planning, timing and coordination. The special event series also looks at the rebirth of Lower Manhattan through the eyes of the residents who survived the horrors of 9/11 to reclaim and rebuild their neighborhood.

MUMBAI: What‘s it like to be Muslim in America? US broadcaster Discovery‘s channel TLC will look to answer that question with the show ‘All-American Muslim‘.

The show kicks off in November 2011. It will delve deep inside the rarely seen world of Muslim Americans to uncover insight into this little known-and often misunderstood-community. The show brings audiences inside Dearborn, Michigan, a mid-sized industrial city that is also home to the largest mosque in the US. 

Following the daily lives of five Muslim American families, each episode offers an intimate look at their customs and celebrations, as well as the misconceptions, conflicts and differences they face outside-and within-their own community.

TLC GM Amy Winter said, "‘All-American Muslim‘ is a perfect fit for TLC, inviting viewers into a world they might not otherwise experience. Through these families and their diverse experiences, we will explore how they blend their values and traditions with everyday life in America, providing insight into their culture with care and compassion."

The show continues TLC‘s focus on storytelling and authentic real-life characters. The families on the series are sharing their biggest celebrations and their unexpected challenges, giving viewers unprecedented access into the American Muslim community.

The families featured in the series share the same religion, but lead very distinct lives that often times challenge the Muslim stereotype.