| MUMBAI:
Just two years after launch, Raghav Bahl has shut down his English infotainment
channel, South Asia World (SAW). "The channel has
discontinued to broadcast. It was not commercially viable," a source in the
company tells Indiantelevision.com. Bahl was not available for comment. Aimed
at South Asians, TV18 founder Bahl launched SAW in the US on the Echostar direct-to-home
(DTH) platform in 2004. The channel was launched the following year in the UK
on Sky Digital and was distributed by Zee Network. Bahl had floated India
World Network USA Inc, which owned and managed South Asia World. The holding company
is SAW Holdings Ltd.
Earlier at the launch
of the channel Bahl had said, "South Asia World is the realisation of a dream
we've had for five years - to create a television forum for Indians the world
over. The Indian American community is the fastest growing, representing some
of the richest populations in the US. This channel is not only a celebration of
the life success of these people, but will also act as a platform to highlight
issues that impact their progress." Bahl had set up a separate infrastructure
for SAW: a fully equipped studio in the Empire State Building in New York, bureaux
in Washington DC and the San Francisco Bay Area, reporters from coast-to-coast
in the US, and in-live news studios in Mumbai and Delhi. | 
