STAR Rolls Out New News Channel in India

MUMBAI, June 21: Media Content & Communications Services
India (MCCS), a joint venture between Ananda Bazar Patrika Group (ABP) and the
STAR Group, has announced the launch of STAR Majha (My Star), a 24-hour Indian news channel in the
Marathi language.

MCCS already operates the popular Hindi news channel STAR
News and the top-rated Bengali news channel STAR Ananda. Rajiv Khandekar will
be the editor of STAR Majha, which will be
headquartered in Mumbai, with modern production facilities and a
state-of-the-art newsroom. It will focus on the
Indian state of Maharashtra but will also leverage
the strengths of STAR News for national news and the Fox and Sky networks for
international news. Programming will cover breaking news, politics, sports,
entertainment, culture, education, careers, real estate, religion, yoga,
astrology and lifestyle.

Announcing the launch, Uday Shankar, the COO of STAR India,
noted: “Since its inception MCCS has raised the bar and set new benchmarks in
Indian news broadcasting, starting with STAR News in the national news space
and followed by STAR Ananda in the regional-language space. The launch of STAR
Majha is yet another leap in that direction and will bring a new level of
vibrancy and diversity to news coverage tailor-made for this unique market.
Maharashtra is at the forefront of reshaping the Indian society and economy and
STAR Majha is a new age channel for the new
age Maharashtrian. Given the pattern of growing demand the launch of a
specialized Marathi news channel of this nature is a natural requirement for
the region.”