English Entertainment
Discovery premieres Wild Karnataka, brings stars to celebrate wildlife
MUMBAI: Discovery in a unique initiative aimed at raising awareness about the rich biodiversity of India and the need for wild-life conservation has pulled in celebrated actors to provide voice-overs for the premiere of documentary ‘Wild Karnataka’ on June 05, the World Environment Day. Produced by award-winning filmmakers Amoghavarsha JS and Kalyan Varma in collaboration with Karnataka Forest Department, Wild Karnataka focuses on the biodiversity that flourishes in the wild, as Karnataka now has some of the best forests in the world.
The film, shot using 4K Ultra HD technology, by a team of 20 camera persons using drones and 15 stationed cameras across Karnataka over a period of four years, is a visual spectacle which is to be enjoyed on the big screen. The premiere of Wild Karnataka will get a never-seen-before reception as leading movie stars come forward to narrate it in different languages. Sir David Attenborough will take the lead in English while Indian actors such as Rajkumar Rao (in Hindi), Prakash Raj (in Telugu & Tamil), and Rishab Shetty (in Kannada) will ensure that Indians across the country join hands and celebrate nature’s gift to this beautiful country.
The documentary will be released on Discovery Plus App at 6:00 am on June 05 on Android, iOS and on the desktop / mobile web on www.discoveryplus.in. The TV premiere will happen at 8:00 pm on Discovery, Discovery HD, DTamil and Animal Planet. The documentary has received huge interest from advertisers with Policy Bazaar, Mi 10 and Unacademy coming on-board as associate sponsors while Wildcraft is co-powered by sponsor.
“The premiere of Wild Karnataka is part of our long-term vision of promoting and elevating Indian filmmakers and storytellers who are making exceptional content,” said, Sai Abishek, director – content, factual & lifestyle entertainment – south Asia, Discovery. “We continue to innovate with an aim to engage audiences with thrilling, power-packed, entertaining and yet purpose driven content. I am indebted to the celebrities who came forward and supported this film readily and brought forward their unique sense of storytelling.”
Co-filmmaker Amoghavarsha JS said, “Following the theatrical release of our film, it gives immense pleasure to be associated with a platform like Discovery Channel which is known for the brilliant work they’re doing towards helping raise awareness about wildlife conservation. We could not have found a better platform for us to showcase our film in which we have tried to bring to the screen the wondrous wildlife of Karnataka.”
Noted celebrities coming together for a special cause: –
Lending his voice to the film in Hindi, the Indian Actor Rajkummar Rao said, “As an actor you’re always looking for interesting stories to tell. However, to be able to narrate the story of our country’s wildlife was an extremely enriching experience for me. Discovery has always been my go to channel whenever I’ve wanted to explore something new. Now to be a part of the channel through a film that so beautifully portrays the natural heritage of our country, it is definitely a proud moment for me. Wild Karnataka celebrates the spectacular diversity of the Indian state, Karnataka and brings us closer to the wildlife that thrives in the state. It serves as a good reminder for all of us to truly celebrate our country’s rich natural treasures and work towards preserving them for generations to come.”
Actor Prakash Raj has lent his voice for the Tamil and Telugu version of the film. He said, “I connect with the ethos of the show – celebrating the rich bio-diversity that is prevalent in India. The magnitude of this wild based magnum opus can be gauged from the fact that this hour-long documentary is sieved from four hundred hours of shot footage. To use one’s craft for raising awareness about the beauty and the diversity of our natural heritage is a beautiful thing and now it is up to us, the viewers and the citizens of India to not only celebrate this beauty but also work towards taking care of it.”
“This film, Wild Karnataka, is close to my heart as I am from Karnataka and I feel grateful to be a part of this project for Discovery India. Lending my voice to the film in a way helps bring it closer to the people of Karnataka so they can witness the beautiful wildlife that thrives in this state, with a personal touch. It is extremely important for us to save our wildlife and the government and Forest Department of Karnataka are taking great efforts despite the pressures of development and vast human populations. It is time we learn more about this and understand how we can be a part of the solution,” said actor Rishab Shetty, who has dubbed for the film in Kannada.
Karnataka is the home to some of the richest wild places on the planet and boasts of a rich biodiversity, most of which is still unknown to the public. Interestingly, one quarter of India’s plant and animal species are found here, many of which are still unknown to the people of India. The film appreciates the efforts of the people, government and the Forest Department of Karnataka, who are committed towards saving some of the greatest natural history for the future generations. Further, the movie spotlights the efforts of the government of Karnataka to save tigers and elephants as the state is a home to these majestic animals than anywhere else in the world. The money raised by this launch is being donated to the Tiger Foundation of Karnataka forest Department. WILD KARNATAKA sends a message of hope not just across India but across the whole world.
UK: The aerial is losing its grip. As broadband becomes the default way Britons watch television, the UK is edging towards a decisive, and divisive, question: should Freeview be switched off by 2034? The issue, highlighted in reporting by The Guardian, has exposed deep fault lines over access, affordability and the future of public service broadcasting.
For nearly 25 years, Freeview has delivered free-to-air television from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 to almost every corner of the country. Even now, it remains the UK’s largest TV platform, used in more than 16m homes and on around 10m main household sets. Yet the same broadcasters that built it are now pressing for its closure within eight years.
Their case rests on a structural shift in viewing. Smart TVs, superfast broadband and the Netflix-led streaming boom have pulled audiences online. Advertising economics have followed. By 2034, the number of homes using Freeview as their main TV set is forecast to fall from a peak of almost 12m in 2012 to fewer than 2m, making digital terrestrial television, or DTT, increasingly costly to sustain.
But critics say the rush to switch off risks abandoning those least able, or least willing, to move online.
“I don’t want to be choosing apps and making new accounts,” says Lynette, 80, from Kent. “It is time-consuming and irritating trying to work out where I want to be, to remember the sequence of clicks, with hieroglyphics instead of words. If I make a mistake I have to start again.”
Lynette is among nearly 100,000 people who have signed a “save Freeview” petition launched by campaign group Silver Voices. She fears the government is about to “take [Freeview] away from me and others who either don’t like, can’t afford, or can’t use online versions”.
Official figures underline the fault lines. A report commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport estimates that by 2035, 1.8m homes will still depend on Freeview. Ofcom’s analysis shows those households are more likely to be disabled, older, living alone, female, and based in the north of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Freeview is owned by the public service broadcasters through Everyone TV, which also operates Freesat and the newer streaming platform Freely. After two years of review, DCMS is expected to set out its position soon, drawing on three options proposed by Ofcom: a costly upgrade of Freeview’s ageing technology; maintaining a bare-bones service with only core PSB channels; or a full switch-off during the 2030s.
The broadcasters have rallied behind the third option. They argue that 2034 is the logical cut-off, when transmission contracts with network operator Arqiva expire. By then, they say, the cost of broadcasting to a dwindling audience will far outweigh the returns from TV advertising.
Ofcom agrees a crunch point is approaching. In July, the regulator warned of a “tipping point” within the next few years, after which it will no longer be commercially viable for broadcasters to carry the costs of DTT.
Others see risks beyond economics. Questions remain over whether internet TV can reliably deliver emergency broadcasts, such as the daily Covid updates, in the way that universally available DTT can. The UK radio industry has also warned that an internet-only future for TV could push up distribution costs and force some radio stations off air if PSBs no longer share Arqiva’s mast network.
“It is a political hot potato,” says Dennis Reed, founder of Silver Voices, who says he has “dissociated” his organisation from the government’s stakeholder forum, which he believes is “heavily biased” towards streaming.
The Future TV Taskforce, representing the PSBs, counters that moving online could “close the digital divide once and for all”. “We want to be able to plan to ensure that no one is left behind,” a spokesperson says, adding that rising DTT costs could otherwise mean cuts to programme budgets.
The numbers show the scale of the challenge. Of the 1.8m Freeview-dependent homes projected for 2035, around 1.1m are expected to have broadband but not use it for TV. The remaining 700,000 are forecast to lack a broadband connection altogether.
Veterans of the analogue switch-off, completed in 2012 after 76 years, recall similar fears of “TV blackout chaos”. Around 6 per cent of households were labelled “digital refuseniks”, yet a targeted help scheme and a national campaign, fronted by a robot called Digit Al voiced by Matt Lucas, delivered a largely smooth transition.
This time, the BBC is less keen to foot the bill. Tim Davie, the outgoing director general, has said the corporation should not fund a comparable support programme for a Freeview switch-off.
Research for Sky by Oliver & Ohlbaum suggests that with early awareness campaigns and digital inclusion measures, only about 330,000 households would ultimately need hands-on help ahead of a 2034 shutdown.
Meanwhile, viewing habits continue to fragment. Audience body Barb says 7 per cent of UK households no longer own a TV set, choosing to watch on other devices. In December, YouTube overtook the BBC’s combined channels in total UK viewing across TVs, smartphones and tablets, albeit measured at a minimum of three minutes.
That shift may accelerate. YouTube has recently blocked Barb and its partner Kantar from accessing viewing session data, limiting transparency just as online platforms consolidate power.
“When the government chose British Satellite Broadcasting as the ‘winner’ in satellite TV it was Rupert Murdoch’s Sky instead that came out on top,” says a senior TV executive quoted by The Guardian. “There already is such an outsider ready to be the winner in the transition to internet TV; it is YouTube.”
Freeview’s future now hangs on a familiar British dilemma: modernise fast and risk exclusion, or protect universality and pay the price. Either way, the aerial’s days as king of the living room look numbered.
