??Premier media and entertainment conglomerate Star India has unveiled a new brand for Star Sports across six TV channels — Star Sports 1,2,3,4, HD1 and HD2 and starsports.com. All the offerings will be under the ‘Star Sports’ brand and with ‘Believe’ as the credo. The two channels bearing the ESPN brand and Star Cricket are being suspended to create this bouquet.
Uday ShankarSpeaking on the occasion, Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India, said, “Cricket is too big to be confined to just one channel. Today, we are redoubling our efforts to showcase the best of Indian and international cricket to the sports fan. We will cover more of it, have wider coverage, go deeper, use multiple languages and take it beyond television. The new brand is also about showcasing our commitment to other sports. While cricket will be central to our approach, we will also be faithful to our role as a sports broadcaster and bring in the best of local and world sports to India, whether in soccer, hockey, badminton, tennis, F1 or the many other sports that fans in India are deeply passionate about.”
In a communique, Star has disclosed that it has made a commitment of more than Rs 20,000 crore in the sports business. The investment is being used to fuel expansion of sports coverage in the country as well as in building exciting new leagues including the Indian Super League in football, the Hockey India League and the Indian Badminton League. The network will also showcase new non-live programming and new shows and formats, all of which will create more choice for the Indian sports fan. Post the brand refresh, the network will carry over 5,000 hours of premium live sports content, including around 200 days of live cricket in a year. The broadcaster also announced the launch of India’s first 24×7 Hindi sports channel – Star Sports 3, with content, graphics and shows in Hindi – a giant step forward to dramatically increase the reach of sports in the country. The network has been launched with a campaign that urges India to “Believe” and as if underscoring the importance of cricket to the network even though Mr Shankar says it will be faithful to other sports too, Indian cricket team captain M S Dhoni has been signed on as its first ambassador. What’s Out, What’s In Sr. No. Old Name New Name 1 STAR Sports STAR Sports 1 2 STAR Sports 2 STAR Sports 2 3 STAR Cricket STAR Sports 3 4 ESPN STAR Sports 4 5 STAR Cricket HD STAR Sports HD 1 6 ESPN HD STAR Sports HD 2
Source: Mxmindia.com
