Jai Maharashtra : one more news channel in Marathi

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Hotel Hyatt Santacruz was venue of launching a new Marathi news channel Jai Maharashtra last night.
Right from Ministers, leaders both from ruling to opposition, bureaucrats, film celebrities lined up to congratulate Sudhakar Shetty of Sahana Group of company, who has launched this channel. Shetty's name has been associated with Vile Parle's Deepa Bar, which used to be hottest night spot of Mumbai till RR Patil cracked down on dance bars. Later,  Shetty converted this bar to Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda Medicine Store.

 Shetty is also associated with a number of slum rehabilitation projects some of them sparked row. So it was really curious to know that what prompted him to start a news channel that too in Marathi media space. Many people feel that this segment is already cluttered with channels likeZee 24 Taas, IBN Lokmat, ABP Majha, TV 9 Maharashtra. So is there  any necessity for another  Marathi News Channel.
Undeterred by the presence of existing  channels , Shetty feels that there is still fair scope for a new Marathi news channel and he want to grab that space. 


The television business is housed under Sahana Films, a subsidiary of Sahana Group. "We have received licence for two news channels. The Marathi news channel will launch on 1st May,  while the Hindi one will be available by the year-end," He is also confident about Sahana News despite the fragmented nature of the Hindi news genre.

 The launch function was a full2 entertainment, masala performer like Chitrangada Singh, Priyanka Copra, Music Duo Sajid Wajid, Singer performer Mika Singh, Marathi/ Hindi actor Shreyas Talpade, Laughter Artist Susheel Sharma performed and enthralled the audience. Salman Khan, Shri Devi, Bony Kapoor, Urmila Matondkar, Suneil Shetty, Mhima Chaudhary, Dharmenra, Javed Akhtar, Mallika Sherawat were also among the film celebrity who made their  presence in the launch function.













Best names associated with Marathi news switched channels to be a part of Jai Maharasthra team. Mandar Phanse is the editor of Jai Maharashtra while Tulsidas Bhoite and Ravi Ambekar have joined as  the executive editors of the channel. The news gathering for the channel has already begun with an active YouTube channel and an online portal, which will also web stream the channel.
The company is in talks with Aidem Ventures to handle ad sales. While Yezdi Sodabottlewala, who was earlier with Sri Adhikari Brothers, will head the distribution of the channel.

 The launch of Jai Maharashtra couldn't have come at a better time, Khan has left Mee Marathi to be the part of Jai Maharashtra feels , as the country is moving towards digitisation with three metros Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata already going digital. With Mumbai fully digitised, Khan reckons that the carriage cost for the news channel has halved. "The distribution cost of Marathi news channels has become 50 per cent because of digitisation in Mumbai. In the second phase a lot of cities in Maharashtra are going digital," he adds.
A typical Hindi news channel requires a capital expenditure of Rs 700 million to Rs 1 billion while the cost for running a regional news channel is less than half of that, says Khan.
Khan also revealed about the company's ambition to become a national network by launching region-specific channels in future. "Sahana Films has applied to the government for six more licences to launch regional channels," he reveals.
Jai Maharashtra Editor Mandar Phanse said that youth of Maharashtra will remain the focus of the channel. The existing Marathi news channels, he said, mostly cater to 45 plus age group.
The channel also aims to give equal coverage to urban and rural issues besides focusing on youth related issues like jobs and education. Phanse also bemoaned the fact that Marathi news channels focus too much on political issues.
"We want to represent the aspirations of the youth of Maharashtra with our news coverage. Sadly, what we see today on Marathi news channels is too much of political news which although required should be backed by focus on issues that impact common man," avers Phanse.

With track record of Shetty and his connections across the political class, it is very difficult to predict the leaning of channel, but the time is just right as the Loksabha election are around, the channel will add more color to the election campaigning.  
  

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