NDTV lifestyle channel from September 7

NDTV Network is launching its English language lifestyle channel, tentatively titled Goodtimes, on September 7. The buzz is that a liquor company will be the lead sponsor of this channel.

Goodtimes will be followed by the launch of Metronation, NDTV's city-specific channel for Delhi and the national capital region. City channels will also be launched in Chennai, then Mumbai and Kolkata.

Smeeta Chakrabarty, the CEO for NDTV's lifestyle channel, would not confirm the brand name, but confirmed that the channels would be launched in the first fortnight of September.

"It is the first Indian lifestyle channel with world-class programming for the global, urban Indian. It's a channel which answers all your questions from food to travel, leisure to gadgets, marriages to parenthood and wellness to parties," she said.

The timing for an Indian lifestyle channel is right as Indians are exposed to global brands as well as the international shopping experience. "They spend money on fashion, food, leisure and entertainment," she pointed out.

Metronation will be a city channel which will cover lifestyle, entertainment and news.

The city channel will attract both local and national brands, but "it will specifically target local brands not significantly tapped by television. The print media still controls a large chunk of the local and classifieds' markets. Metronation will tap this market."

For now, both the channels will be free-to-air.

NDTV's Hindi general entertainment channel is expected to be launched in January.