MUMBAI: Post Diwali, six-year-old health and fitness television channel – Care World TV – is expected to go LIVE on its website http://www.careworldtv.com. In so doing, it will become the first global health care TV channel to be simultaneously available online and offline.

Currently in the testing phase of simulcasting its television content on its website, Care World TV is looking to expand audience reach with this initiative. Care World TV managing director Ajit Gupta exults: “With this initiative, we become the first global health care television channel to be simultaneously available both online and offline.”

The channel has already started getting response from countries like Spain, according to ABS 7 Star CMD Atul Saraf, who says: “Even though we haven’t made it LIVE yet, and are still in the testing phase, anyone who comes to our website for information on health or contact details of doctors etc. can see the simulcast of the channel. We are already getting good response from people based in different parts of the world.”

With the simulcast, Care World TV hopes to reach out to a travelling audience as well as the many Indians settled across the globe.

Simulcast apart, the channel is also developing an app to further connect with its audiences to be launched by November. “The app will be ready by month-end. We will then test the app and so, it should be available for free download by November. It will be available on Android and iOS first. We will further expand to other operating systems like Windows,” says Saraf.

According to Gupta: “The app will have an eye-catching interface, with easy functionality, and will cater to the premium market segment.”

Available for free download, the app can be used even if one has slow internet connectivity. “We have put the content on a very low bit rate and so, a person can watch it even with a 256 or 512 mbps internet connection speed,” informs Saraf.

So is the channel looking at monetising its website content? “Well! We haven’t thought of it currently, but we may in future, we are not ruling out the opportunity,” replies Saraf.

TAM weekly TV ratings reveal that Care World TV reaches four to five million viewers every week. “The channel has bridged the gap between functionaries and beneficiaries. With a 24x7 presence on television and now also on the web, the channel provides various formats of programming that include awareness segments, talking heads, panel discussions, in-depth reports, presentations, infomercials, audio visuals, documentaries, bulletins, campaigns etc, in both fiction and non-fiction formats,” says Gupta.

While the channel has taken a bold step in an internet-driven world, only time will tell if the move will help expand its viewer base or eat into its existing television viewership?