MUMBAI: etc networks recently completed one year of its association with the Zee family.

To mark the occasion different religious groups offered prayers to commemorate the network's belief of Aakhir Dil Hai Hindustani.
 

Founder Chairman of Zee, Subhash Chandra offers flowers on 2 April at a function held to mark the first anniversary of etc's becoming a part of the Zee Network.

According to a release, etc (music) and etc Punjabi have done extremely well in their respective genres.

The release states that during the 52 weeks from January 2002 to December 2002 etc (music) continued to maintain its market leadership with an average of 38 per cent market share among the music channels in India (Source TAM; age 4+). Also, besides the lead in the 4+ age group, etc is the leader in 15+ age group SEC ABC, the release adds.

During the same time period of 52 weeks, etc Punjabi claims to have dominated its market by taking 58 per cent market share among all Punjabi channels, the release informs.

Some of the new shows launched on etc Music include Baaps Of Bollywood- a show dedicated to veteran film artistes, Pandey Pillai 2- a musical comedy, On Air- a film based show, Sun-N-Dance, Gagar Mein Sagar - a show on parallel healing and Bhakti Sutra- show on Art Of Living by spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Citing reasons for etc Channel Punjabi's growing popularity the release states that the channel has been associated with some of the biggest and most successful Punjabi music events like Aaja Nach Le, Highway Hungama, Bhatinda Blast, Chak de Phatte, Dhol Beat and the recently held three day musical extravaganza in Delhi, Punjabi Mela 2003. Another first for the channel was the live telecast of the recently held Aayi Baisakhi event .

etc has also started extending its reach in the overseas markets, informs the release. In UK, Zee UK has launched a separate channel called Alpha etc Punjabi wherein Gurbani and etc programmes form a major part of the programming content.