Programming Highlights

STAR Ananda features a mix of informative and thought-provoking programmes. Bulletin-format programmes Ekhon Kolkata and Aabar Kolkata focus on the local flavour of the city, civics and lifestyle. STAR Khobor, 11 tai 24 ta deliver a perceptive round-up on affairs of the nation and the world, while Khela Shuru and Hoy Ma Noy Bouma cover the world of sports and TV entertainment news, respectively. The weekend lifestyle show Hello VIP gets up close and personal with influential people.

Other feathers in the channel’s cap include landmark coverage of the assembly elections in 2006, the Calcutta Municipal elections, the Durga Pujas in 2007, the Nandigram issue and the Rizwanur case where STAR Ananda ruled the roost.

STAR Ananda maintains its positioning as the expression of the Bengali on the move. It reflects their urges and aspirations and their impatience with the rate of change. STAR Ananda thus mirrors the new vibrancy among the Bengali-speaking people. Crisp news presentations, pacy bulletins and balanced local, national and international news are the channel’s USP. In emerging markets that are culturally rooted like Calcutta, it fills in the need for a dedicated channel that can offer high quality local, national and international news coverage along with views and analysis in the language of the viewers. As a result, STAR Ananda scores favourably with its viewers, purely on the quality and relevance of news it delivers.