Star India to acquire Maa Television Network's broadcast business

The acquisition will give Star India access to the Telugu TV market.

Star India and Maa Television Network have announced a deal under which Star India will acquire the broadcast business of the network. The acquisition will give Star India access to the Telugu TV market (the second largest regional market in India in terms of revenue potential).

The strategic deal will come into effect upon complying with the necessary regulatory formalities, and the broadcast business of Maa TV will be integrated with the business of Star India, once the policies and procedures in the acquired broadcast business of Maa TV are aligned with those at Star India.

Star India to acquire Maa Television Network's broadcast business

"The Telugu market is an important market; however, the pace of innovation has been slow. We are keen to change this by acquiring a local presence and fundamentally changing the content quality paradigm. We were very impressed by the solid creative core, quality and depth of the management team at Maa Television Network. In a short span of time, they have built a leading business which is poised to take the next leap. The acquisition fills a vital gap in our portfolio, allowing our advertisers targeted access to a critical market," says Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India.

With expansion into the Telugu market, Star looks to continue its tradition of innovation in content, building on the strong track record established by the team at Maa Television Network.

"The strategic decision to align with Star India and be part of a global media group will be a big leap in our efforts to take Maa TV Network to the next level and strengthen the positioning of Maa brand in the entertainment industry. Star's leadership in the Indian media and entertainment industry and its parent company's proven expertise in media business on global scale will enable Maa to offer more innovative, rich and differentiated entertainment content to the Telugu diaspora worldwide," states Nimmagadda Prasad, chairman, Maa Television Network.

Star India broadcasts more than 40 channels in seven languages, reaching more than 720 million viewers every week, across India and 100 countries. The network's entertainment channel portfolio includes Star Gold, Channel V, Star World, Star Movies, Star Utsav, Life OK, Movies OK and Star Plus. It has a leading presence in regional language as well, through a bouquet of affiliate channels which include Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies, Star Pravah, Asianet, Asianet Plus, Suvarna, Suvarna Plus and Vijay. Star's sports business has grown rapidly to eight channel properties and its digital presence is defined by starsports.com and hotstar.com which brings TV shows, movies and sports on one destination.

Based in Hyderabad, Maa TV is a leading Telugu TV channel network promoted by Prasad and prominent film personalities K Chiranjeevi, Akkineni Nagarjuna and Allu Arvind. It offers four channels, namely Maa, Maa Music, Maa Movies and Maa Gold.

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com

Television