Mumbai / Hyderabad: Star India today announced that it has successfully completed the integration of the broadcast business of MAA Television Network. With this integration, Star India is better positioned to offer a distinctly enhanced content bouquet to audiences across the Southern markets of India in general and the Telugu speaking viewers in particular.
The acquisition of MAA TV also opens up a significant opportunity for major content innovation in the Telugu television market, which is extremely important given that the Telugu TV market is the second largest regional market in India in terms of revenue potential. Thus, with the completion of the necessary formalities, the broadcast business of MAA TV will now be integrated with the business of Star India. MAA Television Network is one of the leading broadcast networks in the Telugu language market and enjoys a strong growth trajectory driven by fiction and movie content.
Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India, said, “We are pleased to announce the completion of the integration of the broadcast business of MAA Television Network, a journey that we had embarked upon in February, earlier this year. We are very impressed by the solid creative core and quality and depth of the management team at Maa Television Network and are delighted to welcome them to the Star family. The acquisition fills a critical gap in our portfolio and will allow our advertisers targeted access to the large Telugu speaking population. We plan to invest further in this important market to fundamentally change the content quality paradigm. I am confident that team MAA under the leadership of K. Madhavan will transform the content experience for Telugu viewers.”
With a bouquet of four channels, namely maa, maa Music, maa Movies and maa Gold, Maa TV Network stands out from the cluster of TV channels through its unique programming quality and content. With several strategic initiatives in the last few years, Maa TV has redefined the Telugu General Entertainment Channel (GEC) space.
Star India has pioneered content innovation across markets and categories. With an expansion into regional markets – Star enhanced the quality of the creative eco-system bringing in high quality content. In the category of Sports – Star took cricket deeper with language content and triggered a multi-sports culture with the resurrection and repackaging of Kabaddi and the launch of a football revolution with Indian Super League. Star has redefined entertainment content with “nayisoch” or progressive drama and drove television as a catalyst of social change with “Satyamev Jayate”. With the expansion into the Telugu market Star looks to continue its tradition of innovation in content, building on the strong track record established by the team at Maa Television Network.
Star India has defined the Indian media landscape for over two decades and today is one of the country’s leading media conglomerates, reaching approximately 650 million viewers a month across India and more than 100 other countries. Star generates 20,000 hours of content every year and broadcasts 40+ channels in 8 different languages, reaching 9 out of 10 C&S TV homes in India.
The network’s entertainment channel portfolio includes Star Gold, Channel V, Star World, Star Movies, Star Utsav, Life OK, Movies OK and Star Plus, India’s No. 1 Hindi General Entertainment Channel. It has a leading presence in regional broadcasting as well, through a bouquet of affiliate channels which includes Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies, Star Pravah, Asianet, Asianet Plus, Suvarna, Suvarna Plus, Vijay and now Maa. It is also present in the Indian movie production and distribution space through Fox Star Studios, an affiliate joint venture company.
STAR India is making quantum leaps in transforming sports in the country by leveraging the group’s strengths in superior content and audience engagement. STAR’s sports business has grown rapidly to 8 channel properties (STAR Sports 1, 2, 3, 4 and STAR Sports HD1, HD2, HD3 and HD4), making it the leading sports network in the country.
With our viewers on the move, Star is set to drive the agenda on digital content consumption in the country through its wholly owned subsidiary company. starsports.com has redefined the future of sports consumption in India and now hotstar.com brings your favourite TV shows, movies and sports in one destination.
Star India is a fully owned subsidiary of 21st Century Fox.
