NatGeo Wild to boost viewer numbers

<P>National Geographic is to rollout a new global TV channel focused on wildlife coverage after decreasing wildlife content on its main channel two years ago.</P> <P>The new channel, National Geographic Wild, is due to make its worldwide debut in Hong Kong later this month, available in both English and dubbed Cantonese versions to broaden its appeal.</P> <P>The new launch follows a shift away from wildlife programming for the main National Geographic Channel two years ago to cover a range of different genres under its 'Think Again' re-positioning, which the company said had successfully attracted a younger demographic.</P> <P>"It's time now to expand and the obvious genre is wildlife," said National Geographic Channel Asia's MD and EVP, Zubin Gandevia. "Wildlife will extend the appeal overall of National Geographic, especially now we have more than one brand in the market which we can cross promote and cross-sell. The overall package becomes much more appealing."</P> <P>Wildlife programming's visual appeal made it an ideal platform for a channel targeting a broad audience in different markets, Gandevia noted. He anticipated that Wild would be in most key global markets within 12 months.</P> <P>"We think it could have an even bigger base than National Geographic at some point," he said. "It will attract all the audiences National Geographic itself has and, over time, because it is in the local language, it should be attractive to audiences National Geographic has not got at this point in time." </P>