Star News, now a 24-hours Hindi channel

Mumbai, March 31, 2003 - At the stroke of 12:00 midnight, Star News, made a successful transition to a 24-hour Hindi News channel, reaching out to wider audiences across India. The channel, in it's very first day, broadcast an exclusive with Mr. Yashwant Sinha, Cabinet Minister for External Affairs. The interview was hosted by TV columnist and editor of Asian Age, M.J. Akbar.

Based on extensive research to understand the information and television needs of viewers the channel covers the full spectrum of news right from politics, business, investigative reports to consumer issues, crime, environment.

The Channel broadcasts its first news bulletin of the morning at 06.00 a.m. with Star Savera, 10:00 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. with Khabar Din Bhar, then moving on to Aaj Ki Baat from 6:45 p.m. leading on to prime time, late night, to the wee hours in the morning. On Star News it's non-stop news with it's unmatched flair for quality.

The all new programming starts with Star Savera, Khabar Din Bhar, Aaj Ki Baat, National Reporter, Iraq Par Hamlaa, City 60, Kal Ki Baat… and also features Vir Ka Teer with TV Columnist Vir Sanghvi, Akbar Ka Darbar with TV Columnist M.J. Akbar and Masand Ka Pasand, a special show on entertainment hosted by Film Critic Rajeev Masand.

Ravina Raj Kohli, President, Star News said, "We are extremely happy that we've been able to make the seamless transition into Hindi as per the scheduled date. Our aim is to provide balanced and unbiased information in Hindi, thus making Star News a 24-hr channel in the language of the people.

With our team of journalists and news producers, who have earned the reputation for courage, credibility and commitment, we promise to bring a higher standard of news coverage than ever experienced before by our viewers."

P.T.O
The headquarters of the News Channel is in the Star News Centre, Mumbai, and it is linked to the Sansad Marg Super Bureau in Delhi. The 19 other regional bureaus across India are connected by VSAT. An added unique feature is that the reporters can multitask in shooting, editing and reporting by the use of laptop editing systems to stay connected while on location.