Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star India "is set to expand its sports channels portfolio in India by entering five regional markets," according to Gaurav Laghate of the ECONOMIC TIMES. The company, which already operates eight sports channels including four in HD in English and Hindi, "has procured licenses from the ministry of information and broadcasting for another 10 sports channels, confirmed a top official, while refusing to divulge further details."
The new channels "include one standard-definition and one HD channel each in Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu." Star India and Sony Pictures Networks India "experimented with regional language feeds of properties" like the FIFA World Cup, Cricket World Cup, Indian Premier League, Pro Kabaddi League, and Indian Super League; but no broadcasting network in India has a dedicated sports channel in any regional languages.
Media observers "mixed reactions to Star TV's new initiative, considering that the company has not disclosed any details." A senior exec of a media buying firm, who requested not to be named, said, "Distribution-wise, sports channels do not have deep penetration; so in that sense, this could be a good move as the genre did witness an increase in viewership when Hindi channels were launched by the networks.
But a lot will also depend on programming and commentary in case of live sports" (ET, 2/12).
RAPID TV NEWS' Rebecca Hawkes wrote Star India subsidiary Vijay Television has also received a license to uplink TV channels under the name Vijay HD.
The total number of licensed private satellite TV channels in India stood at 857 as of Jan. 31, "comprising 399 news and current affairs channels and 458 non-news channels" (RAPID TV NEWS, 2/12).
