Info

ITV is the largest and oldest Cable TV channel in the United States aimed at the South Asian community. The company was founded in 1985 by Dr. B.N. Viswanath to introduce daily programming to South Asian households in New York who had been limited up to that time to only a few hours of weekend programs. For the first year, the channel was available on broadcast television and was transmitted from Westbury, Long Island on Channel 63; a low power station covering a wide swath of Long Island and most of Brooklyn & Queens, home to the largest concentration of South Asian households in the United States. ITV's success on Channel 63 was noted by local cable operators and opened the way for a full-time cable channel in New York. In 1986, ITV successfully negotiated the first contract by an ethnic media corporation with the cable TV divisions of Time Inc. and Warner Brothers (which subsequently merged themselves) and that year, ITV made its debut as a full-time premium channel serving the Brooklyn/Queens cable market. Since its inception, the channel has grown steadily and today boasts close to 10,000 premium subscribers on Time Warner Cable of New York's Brooklyn/Queens division, making it the most successful ethnic cable channel in the United States. Beginning 1996, ITV has been offered as a hybrid Premium/Basic cable channel with the premium component, ITV GOLD, available to Time Warner subscribers on Channel 77 from 4pm-3am everyday for a competitive price of just $ 9.95 per month. The basic component is also available on Channel 77 everyday in more than 500,000 Time Warner cable households in New York from 3am-4pm. ITV GOLD has been the market leader in the most important TV market in the United States for more than 15 years now and has maintained its dominance by understanding the special programming needs of its viewers. The programming includes first-run movies, television serials, News in English and Hindi, classical and pop music, dance and drama; and is complemented by several hours a day of local origination programming. The local programs include ITV's popular LIVE Call-In shows, LIVE Game shows, Community News and other information-based programs targeted specifically for the New York market. ITV GOLD also has the rights to transmit the best programming from SONY Entertainment Television Asia including all their popular serials, talk shows and special event programs. Additionally, ITV GOLD features the best programming from DOORDARSHAN International, India's national network, including the Doordarshan News in English and Hindi which is beamed via satellite direct from New Delhi, India to the U.S. seven days a week. ITV has its own state-of-the-art studio, production and playback facility in Long Island City, Queens and the programming is transmitted to Time Warner cable via fiber optic cable allowing ITV to feature its LIVE talk shows, multiple newscasts and other topical programs on a daily basis. ITV is a totally customer focussed company and some of its main aims are to: i) provide a highly targeted entertainment and information service of the highest quality;ii) provide a channel which best serves the diverse needs of the Asian-American audience with the best programming in a variety of languages as well as English. On any given day, 24 hours a day, viewers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the West Indies, Guyana, Sri Lanka, etc. living in New York can tune in to ITV & ITV GOLD and find a program that grabs their attention.