Press Release

Star to invest Rs20,000 crore to increase sports coverage in India

7 November 2013

 ?Star Network, the media and entertainment firm owned by Rupert Murdoch, today said it will invest more than Rs 20,000 crore to expand its sports coverage in India and has roped in cricket captain M S Dhoni as brand ambassador for its Star Sports channels.

The network also unveiled a new brand identity for Star Sports across six channels and has renamed all the ESPN channels, subsequent to the buyout of ESPN Inc's stake in their 16 year old joint venture ESPN STAR Sports.

"Star has made a commitment of more than Rs 20,000 crore into sports business. The investment is being used to fuel expansion of sports coverage in the country and to build exciting new leagues, including the Indian Super League in football, the Hockey India League and the Indian Badminton League," Star Network said. Commenting on the development, STAR India CEO Uday Shankar said: "Cricket is too big to be confined to just one channel. Today, we are redoubling our efforts to showcase the best of Indian and international cricket to the sports fan. The new brand is also about showcasing our commitment to other sports."

Source: Indianexpress.com 

Show me everything from anytime

Star Plus to attempt reclaiming the weekend prime time with ‘Mad In India'

Star Plus - Marketing and content strategy Head, Nikhil Madhok said, “Comedy was on our mind since a long time. But we didn’t want to come up with anything just for the sake of it. We waited to come up with something that we believe in." Madhok who also wanted to make Sundays entertaining for the viewers, added, “The show was conceptualised after we decided to extend our weekend programming till Saturday. While our fiction shows are more women-oriented, we wanted to make Sundays family oriented.

Is the Media in trouble? Mumbai Press Club holds discussion on subject

Uday Shankar, Star India CEO said, “Just because the media has become capital-intensive, doesn’t mean that it has to compromise on your integrity. Every business has to have a value system, and the editor needs to be sensitive to that. Journalists need to wake up to the economic reality, and it can’t be denied. On the other hand, those who recognise that are willing to swing to the other extreme and do anything. That also is neither healthy nor sustainable.”

Channel V plans more events

Prem Kamath, channel head, Channel V, adds, "Participation has gone up by almost 100 per cent. We have had 500-600 participants earlier, this year we had about 1000 participants in each zonal."

Imagine more
Id: 6662