The festive season in India is at its peak during Diwali. It is also a time when people come home to spend time with their families and often take a break from work and schools are closed. With TV viewing expected to be higher at this time, many TV broadcasters make it point to create special programming during the Diwali season. Like last year this Diwali too is close to the weekend which extends the festivities of people. We take a look at some of the specials planned by channels during Diwali this year.
Movie channels are the most to take advantage of this period where viewing can be for long hours. Zee Studio for instance line-up of blockbuster movies and premieres which include ‘Thor: The Dark World’ on Diwali night November 11 at 11pm, followed by TV premiere of ‘The Last Knights’ on November 22 at 9pm. The programming continues with ‘Super Power Sunday’on November 14 with movies like Iron Man 3, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Tron: Legacy. On weekdays during this month it will also feature movies such as Mission Impossible, Shooter, World War Z, Premium Rush and others.
Romedy Now had created called ‘Diwali Delights’ which had a special line-up of movies every day at 11pm till Diwali day itself. On November 6 it featured ‘Love n Dancing’, November 7 had ‘Pitch Perfect’, November 8 was ‘Bedazzled’, November 9 was ‘Definitely, May be’, November 10 was ‘Monster-in-Law’ and November 11 was ‘Along Came Polly’.
HBO’s Diwali Blockbuster was the premiere of the movie ‘Interstellar’ by Academy Award winning director Christopher Nolan on November 8 with repeats during the Diwali week. The channel also featured the segment ‘Crackling Nights’ featuring top movies and blockbusters in its library.
History TV18 too announced their line-up of shows during the festive and Diwali period. The shows include Houdini, Bonnie & Clyde, Genius, Metropolis, Pawnography, Four rooms, Leepu & Pitbull, How to win and Humar Calculator. Speaking about this Sangeetha Aiyer, VP and Head Marketing, A+E Networks TV18 said, “The lead-up to Diwali has seen the launch of a couple of blockbuster shows like Houdini and Bonnie & Clyde. These high-profile scripted series have fantastic production values and feature award-winning talent like Adrien Brody and Emile Hirsch in lead roles. The whole idea is to celebrate with the best entertaining shows this festive season. Following this, our upcoming content includes new shows under sub-genres that work on our channel like ‘artifactual’ and ‘gearheads’ that are bound to appeal to our audiences. Moreover, we will be showcasing an exciting line-up of our popular India-based shows on Diwali in keeping with the spirit of the season.”
ET Now too has planned an array of programming for Diwali during the week. This includes ‘Market Makers Diwali Special with Madhu Kela’ on November 10, Tuesday at 7:30pm and November 11 Wednesday at 8:30pm, The Big Picture CIO Calculus on Tuesday 5pm and Wednesday 11am, Back to School on Wednesday 12pm and Thursday 10:30am, At Home with Porinju on Wednesday 10am and Thursday 8:30pm, Bulls Vs Bear on Wednesday 12:30pm and Thursday 7:30pm, Samvat Ideas on Wednesday 8am and 10:30am and Mahurat Day Trading Wednesday 5pm onwards.
9X Jalwa featured a special programming line-up called ‘Dhamekedar Diwali’ with segments such as Prem Ki Diwali, Prem Special Mini Recharge, Patakha Kudi, Rocket Mera Naam and Diwali special of Halkar-Sawaal. 9XM will also feature special programming with a segment called ‘Dilwali Diwali’. On 9X Jhakaas, their Marathi channel, they have an annual property called ‘Jhakaas Dream Diwali’. This is based on the premise that the festival should be a dream Diwali for people who do not get to celebrate the festival. This year, 9X Jhakaas has associated with an NGO called Dilasa, to celebrate Diwali with the farmers & their families. While on 9XO featured the special property ‘9XO Be The Bomb! Happy Diwali’.
With Diwali and Children’s Day around the corner, Turner International India’s kids’ channels – Cartoon Network and POGO, have created a line up special programming initiatives with new movies, specials and contests including a chance to win a trip to Singapore. The specials on Cartoon Network include a special series from the show Roll No.21 with ‘Kris ka Dhamakedar Birthday’ from November 9 – 14. Similarly, on Pogo Chhota Bheem movies and specials that will be aired throughout the week from 9am onwards. This includes the movie Chhota Bheem: Dinosaur World on November 11 at 12pm and Salman Khan’s third appearance on POGO in Prem Dilwala aur Bheem Dholakpurwala on November 12 at 12pm.
Nickelodeon on Diwali launched new show ‘Shiva’ which is their latest locally produced series. The show is on weekdays Monday – Friday at 6:30pm.
