GECs
Discovery focusses on ‘Planet Earth’ with an in-depth portrait
MUMBAI: One of infotainment channel Discovery’s biggest shows of the year focusses on Planet Earth. It kicks off on 1 February 2007 and airs every Thursday at 8 pm.
The 11 part show took five years to make. It used 40 cameramen filming across 200 locations. The programmes were made over four years by producer Alastair Fothergill and his team, who were responsible for the successful Blue Planet.
Filming involved visiting 62 countries. Each of the 11 episodes (except the first) focusses on one of the Earth’s natural habitats and examines its indigenous features, together with the breadth of fauna found there. Several animals and locations are shown that have hitherto never been filmed, using innovative camera technology.
Previously unseen animal behaviour includes: wolves chasing caribou observed from above; snow leopard pursuing markhor in the Himalayas; grizzly bear cubs leaving their den for the first time; crab-eating macaques that swim underwater; and over a hundred sailfish hunting en masse.
From mountains to rivers, the series will take viewers on a journey through the challenging seasons and the daily struggle for survival in Earth’s most extreme habitats. The show uses HD photography and unique filming techniques.
Some sequences do have potentially disturbing content. Examples include a lone elephant being brought down by lions and a polar bear unsuccessfully attacking a walrus colony and subsequently being overcome by hunger and exhaustion. Fothergill was quoted in reports saying that he asked BBC in the UK for an appropriate warning before transmission in such cases.
In describing the show Attenborough in the opening montage says, “A 100 years ago, there were one and a half billion people on Earth. Now, over six billion crowd our fragile planet. But even so, there are still places barely touched by humanity. This series will take you to the last wildernesses and show you the planet and its wildlife as you have never seen them before.”
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… connection because this time, the game isn’t just about winning, it’s about who’s with you. Sony Pictures Networks India is gearing up to launch a new reality game show, Tum Ho Naa, expanding its unscripted slate with a format that promises both emotion and engagement.
The show will premiere soon on Sony Entertainment Television and stream on Sony LIV, with Rajeev Khandelwal stepping in as host. Known for his measured screen presence and selective choices, Khandelwal’s return to television adds a layer of familiarity and credibility to the upcoming format.
While specific details of the gameplay remain under wraps, the positioning suggests a reality format that leans as much on emotional resonance as it does on competition, an increasingly popular blend in Indian television, where audiences are gravitating towards content that offers both stakes and storytelling.
Khandelwal, reflecting on his return, noted that his choices have often been guided by instinct rather than convention, describing Tum Ho Naa as a project that feels “close to the heart”. His association also signals Sony’s continued focus on anchoring new formats with recognisable faces who bring both relatability and depth.
The launch comes at a time when broadcasters are doubling down on original non-fiction formats to drive appointment viewing, even as digital platforms expand parallel reach. By placing the show across both linear television and OTT, Sony appears to be aiming for a dual-audience strategy capturing traditional viewers while engaging digital-first consumers.
As the countdown to premiere begins, Tum Ho Naa positions itself not just as another game show, but as a reminder that sometimes, the biggest prize on screen isn’t the jackpot, it’s the journey shared along the way.
