- If the contract falls through, Star News will work out a new formation to provide content. At least 75 to 80 per cent of it will be in Hindi. Recruitment of new staffers will start in a few months. An official announcement of the new alignments/focus is expected sometime in April-May. Efforts are on to hire a handful of senior people to oversee news and current affairs. The new-look Star News will be handled from Mumbai, with Delhi a major hub. The channel will also have current affairs shows in English produced by a host of independent producers like NDTV, Vir Sanghvi, Karan Thapar and Rajat Sharma.
- Another option to penetrate the fast growing Hindi viewership segment is a possible tie-up with Aaj Tak, the Living Media-promoted channel. TV Today officials confirm that Star News is negotiating for buying a significant stake (15-18 per cent) in the channel. If that happens, the channel could be rechristened STAR-Aaj Tak.
- In case Star News has to handle newsgathering operations on its own, it will also explore ways to raise funds, both in India and abroad. Interestingly, executives of DSP Merrill Lynch—during a detailed presentation to the Murdochs in Mumbai—made a strong pitch for a STAR India share issue, both for news as well as DTH operations.
Outlook
Shantanu Guha Ray With Arijit Barman
