MUMBAI: While other players in the news genre are haggling over male eyeballs, Sahara Samay is looking towards roping in women and children to broaden its viewership.

Going against the grain, Sahara Samay Mumbai has set out plans to buttress its afternoon band. Starting Friday (12 January), the still-in-test-phase news channel will roll out programmes which offer a viewing option to women, for whom the afternoon is a "compulsory watch" segment.

Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Sahara Samay Mumbai head Rajiv Bajaj offered, "It is common knowledge that the afternoon band from 1:30 pm to 5 pm is a time when women and school going children tune in. We are not looking at an alternative audience but are targeting the same audience tuning in to mass entertainment channels."

Stree Samay is the first programme targeting women that will roll out. The programme will be a series of 15 minute segments interspersed with news updates. The show, according to Bajaj, will offer women with information on health, hygiene, child-care, how to plan their day, where to shop, and other such information.

Following Stree Samay is School Samay targeting pre-teens, which will comprise education based interstitials.

"We will within a few weeks debut Fashion and Retail Samay. A unique programme, it is unlike any other fashion programme. It will offer comprehensive information about the fashion industry, the glamorous and the technical aspects of it," offered Bajaj.

Says Bajaj, "Once the afternoon band is in place, we can command a continuous viewership throughout the day. Following the afternoon band, we have a teen band already on from 5:30 to 7:30, immediately followed by my show."

Bajaj said that the channel should be ready with a comprehensive promotional plan within a fortnight. Titled "Celebrating Mumbai", the on-ground and on-air blitz would be a gala affair that would celebrate Mumbai and all the elements that constitute India's commercial capital, says Bajaj.