Lehren Entertainment to launch Bollywood news channel

The channel will be launched in April

Lehren Entertainment will launch a speciality genre channel on Bollywood news and entertainment by April. The channel will be called Lehren TV. The channel’s content will be 100 per cent film-centric, rendered in news, information, chat and gossip formats.

Lehren has been creating content on Bollywood since 1987. It produced film based entertainment shows for India’s then emerging television industry. The content included video packaged film scenes, songs, interviews and magazine content. Lehren was a household name in the VHS home video market and the company grew to become a prominent source of film based content in India and overseas. Lehren was later branded as Bajaj ki Lehren on television.

Lehren Entertainment is a member of the Affiliated Media Company (AMC). Through its holding company, iLabs Capital Pvt. Ltd, AMC is affiliated to the TV9 network of satellite news channels owned by the Associated Broadcasting Company (ABC) Ltd.

Mritunjay Pandey, founder and managing director, Lehren Entertainment, says, “Today, the regular news channels carry 30-40 per cent of film and Bollywood content. With changing TV viewing habits and rising demand for niche and speciality genre channels, Bollywood news is capable of becoming a genre in itself. Lehren TV aims to provide 100 per cent unadulterated film news from Bollywood.”

The tagline of the channel is likely to be one of the following: ‘Film News, Now 24 Hours’ or ‘India’s First 24 Hours Film News Channel’.

Recently, it was reported by agencyfaqs! that the Times Group was planning to launch three speciality genre channels, one of them dedicated to Bollywood news. Pandey says he doesn’t fear competition, in fact more organisations considering a Bollywood news channel simply validates his belief in the potential of this genre. Healthy competition will only expand the scope and prospects of this genre, he says.

Pandey adds, “Lehren aspires to be the medium of choice for the millions of people in India and overseas who consume news and entertainment relating to Bollywood. We want to be the platform upon which the film industry engages with the world at large, celebrates itself in all its colours, and showcases its best talent to the world. Lehren hopes to aid the globalisation of Bollywood and, in so doing, become a global player itself.”

The Lehren logo features an animated butterfly. It represents brightness, glamour and beauty. It is a symbol for youthfulness and has associations such as the colours of the rainbow, the nine rasas, the seven swaras and the myriad colours of a kaleidoscope. The logo will be an intrinsic and interactive part of Lehren’s on-air look, studio and online aesthetics, programming, off-channel promotional activities, and internal and external communications.

The channel will be promoted through a 360 degree marketing and advertising strategy that will include TV, print, outdoor advertising, radio, Internet promotions and on-ground activities as part of the media mix. The promotions will start just before the launch of the channel in April.