EntMnt Xclusive star network We will be looking at Telugu or Kannada as the next language for sports channel launch

[THAKUR]

Star will not offer live India cricket on Star Sports First but will give viewers some access to content so that consumers have awareness and desire for sports. It will have Kabaddi along with local leagues. It will also have sports-related content, which could be educational as well as inspirational. "If you want to change the culture of the country and make it a sporting nation, we can't be denying a large set of population where they can't even have a handshake with sports," Gupta said.

In the second bucket will be the popular sports in English, Hindi, Tamil and future channels in other regional languages. "We will have many more languages in sports. We will be looking at Telugu or Kannada as the next language for sports channel launch within a few months.
Sanjay Gupta: Star India restructures sports business, eyes breakeven this fiscal - The Economic Times

 

[Manu]

Oh. Gosh. This is Crap ! I don't know about, Tamil, Kannada, or Telugu.

But Think Twice, Star, if you got any future plans to Launch a Malayalam Sports Channel, Nobody Cares.

Keralites don't need a Malayalam Sports Channel. We hate it.

 

[DashMajor]

Launch it Star, launch it. Days of Indian Cricket is not bright.

 

[Cute Riju]

Why not bengali (বাংলা)???

 

[UMSCBE]

yes, we want Kannada sports channel.

 

[Cute Riju]

It seems that very soon they will launch another FTA Sports channel, named Star Sports Second, coz they already buy 2 slots on DD Free Dish to launch their 2 new FTA channels. Recently Star is mainly focusing on Sports business.

 

[Cute Riju]

Star India is looking to turnaround its loss-making sports business this financial year even as it readies to bid for the television and digital rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The sports business will have three buckets and Star will continue to launch sports channels in regional languages.

The company, which has already launched a sports channel in Tamil, is looking at Telugu and Kannada languages in the next phase.

With the launch of Star Sports First in the free to air (FTA) genre, Star will target people who do not have access to pay television and have only watched sports content on Doordarshan. Star Sports First will launch on Freedish, Doordarshan’s subscription-free DTH platform, on 21 July.

Star Sports 1 and 2 will be pay channels with popular sports content like cricket, kabaddi and football. “In the second bucket will be the popular sports in English, Hindi, Tamil and future channels in other regional languages. We will have many more languages in sports. We will be looking at Telugu or Kannada as the next language for sports channel launch within a few months. The idea is to grow the sports by localisation in a big way,” Gupta told ET.

Star Sports Select will be the top layer and have all international content.

Read more at: Star's sports biz looks to break-even in FY18 | TelevisionPost.com