AXN strengthens weekend line-up; to premiere Hannibal Season 3 on Sony Liv

The channel will also launch Orphan Black, NCIS: New Orleans and CSI: Cyber.

AXN, the English general entertainment channel from Multi Screen Media, has announced the launch of four new shows to strengthen its weekend programming.

The channel will launch Hannibal Season 3, Orphan Black, NCIS: New Orleans and CSI: Cyber, this June. Starting June 13, viewers will get to watch CSI: Cyber and Orphan Black Season 3 at 10 pm and 11 pm, every Saturday. On Sunday, June 14 onwards, NCIS - New Orleans and Hannibal will take the 10 pm and 11 pm slot, respectively.

According to Saurabh Yagnik, business head and EVP, AXN and Sony Pix, the channel is seeking to increase channel share and enhance perception of AXN as the destination for the best Hollywood content. "The strategy is to talk to the adopters who are not the early movers in English entertainment, have to be eased into the category and the influencers who are well aware of what's happening in Hollywood and need new content."

It may be recalled that in August last year, the channel had launched a property titled 'Not So Ordinary Weekend'. The channel is doing away with the property as it felt that its promise was not getting completely captured through the slot name it had created. It now wants to communicate that it is getting shows fresh from the US.

Interestingly, the channel is leveraging the digital platform of MSM, Sony Liv to catch eyeballs for the first episode of Hannibal Season 3. The show will launch on the OTT platform on the same day - June 5 - at 7.30 am, that it is telecast in the US. The subsequent episodes will first air on the television channel, followed by the digital telecast. The channel has bought both digital and television rights of the series. All 13 episodes from Season 1 and 2 are available on mobile and web on Sony LIV. "The idea is to help build the resilience with Sony Liv. We have bought the online and television telecast rights together for Hannibal," Yagnik adds.

Uday Sodhi, EVP and digital head, MSM comments, "The digital medium serves up entertainment here and now. Fans of a series as absorbing as Hannibal don't want to wait for the season premiere and only a digital entertainment destination such as Sony LIV has the power to cater to their need for instant gratification. Therefore, we (with AXN) have come up with this initiative."

"With Sony LIV and its Video-on-Demand service, viewers also have the advantage of losing themselves in the exciting world of the show through the carefully curated content from the past to the present. It obviates the need to download low-quality episodes from untrustworthy sources on the internet or request friends to share their stored content," he adds.

As for marketing, the channel will be amplifying the launch of these shows across the MSM network and social medium. "Our TG is sitting either in front of a TV or digitally active," Yagnik signs off.

About the shows

Orphan Black - Last year, season 2 had a cliffhanger ending where project Castor was unveiled and a male clone was shown for the first time. Season 3 is back, promising more drama and action soaked in the science of DNA and cloning; and military's top secret project, the channel said. .

Hannibal Season 3 will treat the viewers with a vulnerable avatar of the monster Hannibal in an exciting chase that draws towards his capture. Audiences will hook up to know if legendary monster Dr. Hannibal Lecter, psychiatrist, psychopath and cannibal - currently hiding in Europe - will be captured by his arch rival Will Graham?

NCIS: New Orleans is an American television series combining the elements of military drama and police procedural genres led by Special Agent in Charge Dwayne Cassius Pride.

CSI: Cyber, an American police procedural drama television series, stars Patricia Arquette as FBI Special Agent Avery Ryan. Agent Avery and her team of a single father and former US Marine Senior Special Agent Elijah Mundo, hacking expert Daniel Krumitz, ex-black-hat-hackers Raven Ramirez and Brody Nelson, and Deputy Director Simon Sifter, will be seen solving cyber mysteries. The special team will probe internet-related murders, cyber-theft, hacking, sex offences and blackmail.