Star Sports launches new free-to-air channel in India
July 10, 2017
Star Sports, an Indian pay-television broadcaster, has launched a brand new free-to-air channel to cover India’s own Pro-Kabaddi League, according to the Indian Television news website.
The channel, Star Sports First, will be accessible later this month on July 21.
The league itself takes places over twelve host cities, who get to witness the likes of teams such as the Haryana Steelers, Puneri Paltans and the Jaipur Pink Panthers.
Not only will the channel provide coverage for the Pro-Kabbadi League, which will be entering its fifth season after its introduction in 2014, but it is also set to cover football and cricket. With the increasing popularity of the league in India, and after its largest ever two-day player auction back in May, the Star Sports Channel may be destined to be a success.
Its popularity has been championed by a Star India spokesperson, who believes that “Television penetration in India has grown exponentially” and that “there is a very sizeable subset of this universe that is not on conventional pay-TV.”
By creating Star Sports First, the broadcasting company hope to satisfy India’s “eager appetite” for watching the Pro-Kabaddi League directly in their own homes, so that their “tens of millions of fans” can view this exciting, physically-enduring sport, as well as some of the world’s most popular sports.
Star Sports launched a new Tamil-language channel in May, and SSF could be said to mark the significant demand for more widely available access to television across the country.
D. Cheralathan oozed experience & calmness last season, topping the super tackles chart! Can he win the #VivoProKabaddi for @PuneriPaltan? pic.twitter.com/SJ99F32Kic
— ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) July 10, 2017
