The Hindu Business Line : Star News plans greater focus on smaller cities

STAR News, which claims to have a dominant position among the Hindi news channels in the four metropolitan cities, is planning to step up its coverage in the non-metros this year.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Uday Shankar, CEO, said that the news coverage of most channels in the non-metros is disproportionate, and the challenge is to penetrate further into the smaller markets. "We are looking at increasing our focus in smaller markets such as Lucknow and Chandigarh this year."

He also said that the year would witness introduction of programming which would cater to the viewers of the smaller markets.

The channel has also expanded its morning viewing band to 5 a.m. instead of the usual 6 a.m.

"In India, people start their day much earlier and we want to become peoples' first window to the world. This is a significant departure from the current programming patterns and would definitely become a trendsetter."

In the 5 a.m. slot, the channel will air Pehli Khabar, which would reportedly bring news from the world around that unfolded at night, while Star Savera, which would be aired at 8 a.m., would give an insight of the day ahead.

Mr Shankar said that the channel's effort would be to offer fresh news for 20 hours a day.

The channel, according to him, would looking at offering more freshness at frequent intervals, due to which it would be coming up with programmes with shorter life spans.

"This will enable us to give space to newer ideas and programmes."