MUMBAI: International lifestyle channel, Discovery Travel & Living, has got into an over-drive with its new programming initiative and has lined up a total of five shows, which will be unleased in the first week of April.

Apart from the fact that the shows will help beef up the weekend band for the channel, the line up will also add to the channel’s eclectic mix of programming covering travel, cuisine, travel, design and décor.

To begin with, the channel will have two shows, `Faking It’ and `American Chopper’, airing on Sunday 9 pm and 10 pm. The first show, based on the concept of `My Fair Lady’, takes an individual from one type of background, gives him/her a complete makeover and then tries to pass the person off as the real one in a society that would normally be completely different.

A transformational battle, each ‘faker’ is given just four weeks to master a skill well enough, with the aid of top practitioners in their fields, to fool a panel of expert judges.

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The other show, `American Chopper’, celebrates a family’s struggle to achieve the American dream. The show profiles the lives of New York natives Paul Tuetul Sr.and his son Paul Jr. of Orange County Choppers, creators of the worlds most outrageous custom motorcycles.

Each episode captures the day-to-day drama of this volatile father-and-son team as they battle impossible deadlines and take the viewer through the motorcycle design and fabrication.

Apart from these two shows, the channel has lined up three other shows What Not To Wear (Saturday 9 pm), `Behind The Label’ (Friday 11.30 pm) and `Full Frontal Fashion’ (Friday 11.30pm) for the fashion conscious viewer.

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Apart from these shows there is Streets of the World (Monday 10 pm). The show features the world’s greatest streets, focusing on the area’s people, history and untold stories. Viewers explore the past to capture the remarkable stories and surprising truths that lie behind the great facades of shops,restaurants, banks and monuments.

Explaining the thought behind the shows, Discovery Communications India director, marketing, Aditya Tripathi said, ” we’ve planned the shows keeping in mind our target audience, which is the upscale urban audience who wants international quality entertainment. The shows that we’ve lined up not just define the audience taste, but even what the advertisers want.”

Shedding light on the new programmes, Tripathi adds,
“More than the themes, its the treatment meted out to the shows that will set them apart. The show What Not To Wear has two experts who literally work off the street and within a given budget transform ugly ducklings into style swans. All women can look stylish irrespective of their shape, height or age.

`Behind The Label’ viewers get to have a peek at the behind-the-scene Developments in major fashion houses of the world. Then one gets to meet top designers such as Nicole Miller and Kimora Lee in `Full Frontal Fashion’.

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When queried on details about the commissioned local programmes, Tripathi said, ” We’re looking at revamping our programme schedule every three months. So, one will get to see local Indian programming only towards the second half of the year.”

Apart from the programming initiatives, the channel also plans to unveil its new advertising campaign and show related marketing initiatives in the month of April.