LifeOK To Replace STAROne On 18th Dec 11

STAROne

To Be Replaced By LifeOK



Finally it is happening. Star One, the youth-focussed Hindi general entertainment channel from the Star India stable, is going to be replaced by a new channel ‘Life OK’ on 18 December.

While Star One will cease operations on 16 December, Life OK will go on air on 18 December. The channel will also have a complete new set of programming and packaging sans “Star” branding.

The channel’s philosophy is “cherishing what you have”. Life OK will remind and invite everyone to value the things that well and truly matter in life like family ties, relationships, valuing traditions and peace of mind, while in the eternal quest for more.

Among the programming, Life OK will have shows like Devon Ke Dev... Mahadev (8 pm), Tum Dena Saath Mera (8.20 pm), Meri Maa (9 pm), Dil se di dua... Saubhagyavati Bhava?, Sapno Ke Bhanwar Mein and Hum Ne Li Hai...Shapath.

Star India was in the process of transforming Star One since quite some time. It had appointed former Sony Entertainment channel EVP and business head Ajit Thakur as GM for Star One in August.

The decision was fuelled by the fact that seven-year old Star One, which was giving a tough fight to Sony at some point of time, was lagging behind, garnering only 30-40 GRPs (gross rating points) on a weekly basis. At the same time Sab, the comedy family entertainment channel from Sony has also gone way ahead.

The channel will come back with a completely new programming line-up. On an average, Star One garners 30-45 GRPs a week and makes around Rs 75-80 crore a year.

STAR India is all set to re-launch its second GEC STAR One in a new avatar.

Positioned earlier as an urban youth channel, STAR One will now be called Life OK, and will hit television screens on December 18, 2011.

The product will return with a facelift, and a completely new programming line-up, wherein the only old hand will be Sach Ka Saamna (at 10.20 pm), which will now be the driver property for the refreshed channel. The show, in its first season, was aired on Star Plus.

Meanwhile, the new shows in the fiction line-up will include Sapno Ke Bhanwar Mein, Hum Ne Li Hai...Shapath, Dil Se Di Dua...Saubhagyavati Bhava?, Tum Dena Saath Mera, Meri Maa, and the mythology-based show Devo Mein Dev...Mahadev. Interestingly, STAR is expected to push Life OK as a normal GEC, with no additional or unique positioning.

It was around May this year, when STAR India decided to push STAR One for a complete overhaul in order to give it more mass appeal and roped in Ajit Thakur, former business head, Sony Entertainment Television (SET), to head the new channel in August 2011.

The network took the decision to go for the much needed repair when it realised that unlike its flagship GEC STAR Plus, the seven-year old STAR One was lagging far behind in the Hindi GEC race. Consider this: While for Star Plus, its average GRPs stand at 300 points, for STAR One, it varies anywhere between 30 and 45 GRPs.

Also, according to various media agencies, while Star Plus brings in an approximate Rs 800-1,000 crore revenue per year, Colors makes anywhere between Rs 600-700 crore. STAR One made an estimated Rs 75-80 crore.

Currently, the major chunk of the Hindi GEC pie is split amongst Star Plus, Colors, Sony and Zee TV. If in time, the new avatar is able to make even 60 GRPs a week, STAR as a network, will be in a pretty good position to command a major share of the overall GEC pie, not just in terms of viewership, but also in revenues.

It is pertinent to note here that despite several attempts, STAR officials were unavailable for comment when the report was filed.