Rupert Murdoch is speeding up his regional play in India. Soon after announcing Star India’s $100 million investment plan for six regional language channels earlier this month, the News Corp chairman has set in process the launch of Star Jolsha, a Bengali general entertainment channel (GEC) on 8 September.
The Marathi and Gujarati GECs will also come up this fiscal which ends in June for the News Corp group of companies. The southern language channels could form part of the regional bouquet if the deal with Asianet concludes. This would give Star a foothold in the Malayalam and Kannada language markets, fortifying its presence in the southern region where it already runs Tamil channel Star Vijay.
“We are launching the Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati channels on our own. All the three channels will come up before June-end,” says Star India EVP regional channels J C Giri.
Star Jolsha will bank on a mix of daily soaps, movies and a celebrity chat show titled Ghosh & Co that will be hosted by acclaimed director Rituparno Ghosh. Veteran film actor Victor Banerjee is making his debut on television with Bandhan, a daily drama about family bonds.
The initial primetime lineup includes Durga, a socio-mythological drama where Uttam Kumar’s grandson Gaurav Chatterjee makes his small screen debut, a romantic thriller titled Neer Bhanga Jor, Ekhaney Akash, a youthful romance set in a hospital, and the comedy show I Laugh You. Leading Kolkata-based film production firm Shri Venkatesh Films has also been roped in to produce programmes for the channel.
“We have acquired a substantial number of movies which will air on the afternoon band. We will also be premiering movies on weekends at the prime time band. The big ticket movies acquired include Bong Connection, Anuranan and Master Phatakeshto,” says Giri.
Star Jolsha will launch as an encrypted channel with a free-viewing window. The Marathi and Gujarati channels will also operate as pay channels with a free window.
“We see an upper SEC, male skew in Bengali GEC viewership. Our Bengali channel is positioned with this in mind,” says Star India senior VP marketing and communications Prem Kamath.
Star Jolsha will be competing in a Rs 2 billion Bengali GEC market which is growing at over 30 per cent. Zee Bangla is the market leader raking in almost Rs 1 billion, followed by ETV Bangla and Akash Bangla.
“The Bengali regional genre has shown a substantial growth in the past two years. Our entry, after a nine-year gap in the Bengali GEC space, will further expand the market,” says Giri.
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