Channels, which cater to a particular audience, have been gaining popularity ever since they started and the various entertainment channels are no different. These channels, as the name suggests, have the objective of providing a wholesome entertainment to the viewers. Thus, they have their daily-soaps, movies, comedy shows, action & drama programmes and much more. Different channels have different target audiences and different time-slots for their varied range of targets.
Private entertainment channels are the most sought after channels in every household n India as they cater to a large number of viewer ships. There are exclusive movie channels like Star Movies, HBO, Pix, Hallmark for English movies and Zee Cinema, Set Max, Star Gold etc for Indian Movies. There are other channels, which are only for action TV or comedy or for gaining knowledge or on travel or on different lifestyles.
 Star Plus has been rated as the Number one Hindi Entertainment channels with its huge success of Ekta Kapoor`s Saas-Bahu dramas and the ever popular Kaun Banega Carorepati which starred Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and recently the King, Shah Rukh Khan. Entertainment channels have come a long way from just soaps and daily dramas and quiz shows or countdown shows to reality TV, like Indian Idol & Big Boss on Sony TV, or game shows like Antakshari on Zee TV, which is a new concept and has been gaining popularity since over two years.
The Indian media and entertainment (M&E) industry is expected to grow at an 18 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach an overall value of Rs 1 trillion by 2011 from its present size of Rs 437 billion, according to a report published by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). More and more entertainment channels are lined up to be launched. Even NDTV, the news channel is planning to launch it`s own entertainment channel. Guess it won`t be long enough when each individual has his or her own private entertainment channel in this booming market!
AXN
AXN is the only round-the clock action movie & adventure sports channel available in the world. Along with movies it also airs series of adventure sporting events like bungee jumping, go karting and other extreme endurance games. The program mix is designed in such a way that it appeals to a predominant male audience aged between 14 and 44 years. Sony Pictures Entertainment, the parent company of Columbia TriStar, owns the channel.
Zone Reality
Zone Reality is the only TV channel dedicated to showing reality programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Zone Reality shows real people and true stories. There are no actors, no scripts and no stunts. Reality TV is positioned as a niche channel and is being targeted at action-oriented youth. Aimed at establishing a connection with its "desi`` viewers, Zone Reality, the 24-hour channel dedicated to real life programming, also decided to add an Indian flavour to its content.
 Channel V
Channel V is an international music channel chain, where mainly English-language music is played, though the country-specific channels do play content of their own mother tongue. Channel V is in direct competetion with MTV, not only in India but in many countried around the globe. Channel V has almost always been on a different path in this cluster of TV channels of the nation. Instead of trying to appeal to the largest possible audience, Channel [V] chooses to target the individual music fan.
MTV India
MTV is the most popular music channel in India. It is a 24-hour music channel that primarily caters to viewers in the age group of 15 to 34 years. MTV India features 70% Indian music and 30% international music. MTV India has consistently positioned itself as a youth channel, catering to the Indian youth with its mixed offerings of music, humor and fashion. For the 6th consecutive year, MTV was named The World`s Most Valuable Media Brand by Business Week & Interbrand`s 2005 Best Global Brands study.
STAR World
STAR World is STAR Group`s premiere English-language Entertainment TV-channel. Also shown in the Asian region, the channel was the successor of STAR Plus, which is now the Hindi-language Entertainment Channel. The shows aired on Star World range from family dramas to comedy to talk shows to reality shows to children`s programming and live international events.
Zee Café
The channel airs dramas, sitcoms, reality shows and variety shows. The channel is one of the most widely viewed English channels in India. Since inception, Cafe has focused on sourcing the best international software relevant to Indian taste and preferences. Zee Café currently has the best English language programming in India, and is gaining popularity with the urban and young audiences.
 Hallmark Channel
This channel shows some of the best movies Hollywood has to offer. The channel is currently available in all major Indian metros and mini-metros in 9 million homes. Offering an extremely unique variety of quality entertainment, the movie genre range from action, adventure, history, biography, comedy, crime, drama, family, mystery, romantic, thriller, westerns, sci-fi and tearjerker movies. Not to be missed are the three wonderful shows of Oprah Winfrey, Without a trace and Intelligence.
HBO
The HBO service offers viewers in India and South Asia the best of Hollywood through the exclusive licensing agreements with Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment (Columbia/Tri-Star), Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Apart from movies HBO also featured the music concert of the famous Bon Jovi- Crush, in the year 2001. In the year 2004, HBO went one step further and for the first time the channel aired three movies - The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King - all dubbed in Hindi.
MGM Channel
MGM network is a division of the leading Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios Inc. Zee MGM is a joint venture partnership between Zee Telefilms and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. Originally named Zee Movies; this channel was re-launched as Zee MGM in the year 2000. The channel covers over 11 million homes across India. Zee MGM, which attracted the attention of the viewer with its run of Indian English films, is now focusing on mainstream big films.
PIX
Sony Entertainment Television launched the new movie channel, Sony Pix in August 2006. The channel claims to bring the greatest stories ever told, right in the viewer`s home. The programming consists of contemporary and classic Hollywood movies with original programming and other elements that reflect the channel`s promise of being mad about the movies. This channel is taking pains to build an Indian identity through customized programmes. Not just with the advertising but with localizing the look and feel of the channel. This channel has also premiered Aparna Sen`s movie, `15- Park Avenue`.
 STAR Movies
STAR movies brings audiences the biggest blockbusters and showcases over 100 movies a month and 30 premieres. Star Movies has some of the most commercially successful films in motion picture history, and range from blockbusters and mainstream Hollywood output to all time classics. STAR Movies has something for everyone: an endless selection of adventure, drama, thrillers, romance and comedy to choose from, making the channel the most complete international movie channel in Asia.
Turner Classic Movies
Unlike other movie channels TCM is a commercial free channel. From time to time, the channel shows restored versions of films, particularly old silent films with newly commissioned musical soundtracks. Turner Classic Movies` regular programming spans almost the entire history of film, from the 1920s forward, including, of late, a few post-1970 films. Although a vast majority of TCM`s movies are classics from the 1930s-1950s, the network also airs original content, mostly documentaries about classic movie personalities and particularly notable films.
Zee Studio
The channel caters primarily to the SEC AB, 15-34 years audience whose propensity to spend is high. Zee Studio has access to more than 4,000 film titles of MGM. The movie genres in this channel ranges in fixed time and theme slots from Romantic Mondays, Thrilling Thursdays, Man Fridays, Movie Marathon on Saturdays and movie festivals on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
B4U Movies
B4U is the world`s first 24-hour South Asian Premium Digital Bollywood Movie Channel. B4U offers five full-length films per day, and it is the only channel to air Indian movies in the United States less than six months after their theatrical release in India. It is the first Television channel in the world to come up with the concept of Movie on Demand whereby a movie is shown as per viewer`s choice voted through the website of this channel. This is one movie channel, which has the attitude of a music channel.
Sahara Filmy
Filmy is an Indian Hindi film channel owned by Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited. The key USP of the movies and movie-related shows offered by the channel is a mix of narrative and humorous programming. Filmy channel has also set up a platform for short films, in the hope that this venture would generate hype and popularity of this channel.
 SET Max
Max is part of the bouquet of channels distributed by the The One Alliance, which is a joint venture between SET India Pvt Ltd and Discovery Communications India. SET Max brings to its viewers, the biggest and the best of Bollywood movies in their weekly specials "Maha Movies," "Super Cinema" and "Mera Movie. This channel provides its viewers with the biggest and best of Hindi Movies and Events including the best-limited overs ICC Cricket tournaments all the way till 2007 ending with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.
Star Gold
Star Gold brings to its viewers the best and the biggest Bollywood Blockbusters featuring a mix of cotemporary as well as classic movies from the 1950s to the present time. Action, Thriller, Romance, Religious, Patriotic … the flicks, which appeal to every sentiment and heart- Star Gold has it all. Thus, Star Gold is one of India`s most popular Bollywood movie channels, bringing viewers the best that Bollywood has to offer.
Zee Cinema & Other Zee Channels
Zee Cinema was the first Hindi movie channel of India. Zee Cinema is a broadcast 24-hours a day satellite television channel and it broadcasts six movies a day and other film-based programming. Formerly a tie-up with Star, Zee networks now own it. Zee Cinema garners strong viewership in the morning, afternoon and evening time bands as well as the night slot, making it a complete movie channel for all sections of the audience.
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