Discovery Communications on Monday "launched a new sports channel in India called DSPORT, in a bid to widen its portfolio and expand its reach," according to Harveen Ahluwalia of LIVE MINT. With a plan to offer 4,000 hours of live sporting content annually, Discovery will air int'l sports properties "ranging from horse racing to football." Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific SVP & GM Karan Bajaj said, "The channel will be serving a mix of international sports which have large fan communities in India. We will offer 4,000 hours of live programming which is two-three times of any other channel." The broadcaster operates 11 channels in India including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery HD World, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo and Discovery Kids. As of now, DSPORT has acquired rights to Brazilian, Chinese and Portuguese football leagues along with Major League Soccer and will offer live racing from the U.K. and Irish tracks. In golf, the channel will air the British Open, US Open, PGA Championship and LPGA. Additionally, Discovery acquired "rugby and cycling properties" for the channel. Until now, India's sports TV market has been the "duopoly of two big" players -- Star India and Sony Pictures Network (LIVE MINT, 2/6). The ECONOMIC TIMES' Gaurav Laghate reported R.C. Venkateish, the former managing director of ESPN Star and former CEO of Dish TV India, will be "working closely" with DSPORT, "especially in areas related to content acquisition for the channel." Discovery is "in talks with multiple DTH and cable operators for distribution of the channel." It already signed deals with Hathway Cable & Datacom and a "few other multi system operators" and will be available across 35 million households from Monday (ECONOMIC TIMES, 2/6).
