Star India postpones launch of 15 new channels

Star India has postponed the launch of 15 new channels, which were slated to be launched in December 2021 and January 2020. It was in October that the Disney-owned broadcaster announced its plan to launch new channels, in different languages and genres, during the course of announcing the new tariff order under NTO 2.0.

Star India said: "This is to inform all distributors of television channels (DPOs) that the launch of the following fifteen (15) channels and name change of the following one channel have been deferred till further intimation by Star.”
Analysts feel that the opacity in the NTO 2.0 matter is one of the prime reasons for the postponement of the launch. The apex court will take up the matter November 30.

The new channels include: Star Movies Select, Pravah Pictures, Star Gold Thrills, Star Gold 2 HD, Star Kirano, Star Gold Romance, and Jalsha Josh.

Star is also expected to foray into the Odisha market by launching Star Kirano and its HD version. In the kids space, the new channel will be Super Hungama, which will substitute Marvel HQ. There will also be HD channels for Hungama TV and Disney Channel, in addition to the HD versions of Malayalam movie channel Asianet Movies and Tamil general entertainment channel Vijay Super.