Source: Asians in Media

http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/television/793

On January 29, 2005 Asians in Media reported, "A religious channel from India, targeting British Hindus with its mix of 'socio-spiritual-cultural' programming, is in talks with Sky to debut on the digital platform. It launched in the United States in December and hopes to be here this year, though no date has yet been confirmed. Aastha Broadcasting Network's director Hiren Doshi confirmed with India's TV industry portal IndianTelevision.com that they had plans to come to the UK yesterday. The company's international offering combines content from its two Indian channels: Aastha and Aastha 2. The former is a spiritual channel with focus on discourses and live Yoga demonstrations while Aastha 2 airs Bhajans and Kirtans. Programming is a mixture of Hindi, Gujarati and English. The arrival of religious channels from India is unlikely to be greeted with surprise, especially as British Asians are seen as a lucrative and untapped market in this area. Zee TV's Alpha Panjabi broadcasts a large amount of religious programming for the Sikh community while there are a growing number of offerings for Muslims in the UK."