STAR Plus

About the Channel:

• StarPlus is an Indian general entertainment pay television channel owned by Star India, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. The network's programming consists of family dramas, comedies, youth-oriented reality shows, shows on crime and television films

History:

• When it was first launched on 15 December 1991, StarPlus was an English language entertainment television channel broadcasting international television shows from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, with Zee TV being the Hindi-language counterpart.
• On 1 July 2000, after Star ended its relationship with Zee TV, Star Plus was transformed completely into a Hindi-language channel (from 1997 to June 2000, StarPlus was a bilingual TV channel consisting of Hindi and English programmes), with Star World becoming the network's English-language counterpart channe and the company's CEO Sameer Nair and programming chief Tarun Katial introduced a number of new shows, which helped solidify the channel's position as the leader in the Hindi-language television broadcasting area.
• The channel launched in the United States in November 2004.
• The channel's high-definition feed was launched on 15 April 2011. It carries the same schedule as the SD feed, but with different commercials. StarPlus HD was set to launch in both the United Kingdom and Ireland by the end of 2011, but it was delayed until 5 July 2012.
• On 6 October 2017, Canada's ATN Channel lost rights to Star programming, with viewers directed to the new streaming service Hotstar, which was recently introduced in the Canadian market.
• On 4 January 2019, Star similarly shut down its linear channels in the United States, in favour of the Hotstar service.

Branding and Rebranding:

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• On 1 July 2001, the logo transformed yellow to blue and white, now cutting star.
• On 14 June 2010, it underwent a rebranding along with a change from the blue rectangular logo to a ruby red star with the tagline "Rishta Wahi, Soch Nayi".
• On 7 November 2016, it underwent a rebranding with the tagline "Nayi Soch".
• On 27 May 2018, it underwent a rebranding with Alia Bhatt as the face of the campaign with the red crystal star with gold swoosh along with the tagline "Rishta Wahi, Baat Nayi" and signature song composed by A. R. Rahman.
• On 30 December 2020, Disney announced that the Star branding would be replaced with Utsav from 22 January 2021. On 22 January 2021, StarPlus became Utsav Plus, and this change is currently effective in parts of Europe.

TRP, Reviews, Reception:

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• In the early 2000s, StarPlus was at third position in terms of revenue and viewership after Zee TV and Sony Entertainment Television while none of the series were in top 10.
  
• With the launch of Indian Hindi version of Kaun Banega Crorepati, hosted by Amitabh Bachchan, the series became an instant hit becoming number one show followed by the launch of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, in the same day which became second most watched after it which soon beat the latter to number one position while StarPlus soon became the most watched channel.
• This followed Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii in October 2000 and later Kasautii Zindagi Kay a year after it and many more produced under Balaji Telefilms which made StarPlus to achieve the highest viewership during that time making the channel at no.1 position since.
• Most of the series (80-90%) aired in the channel during that period were produced by Balaji Telefilms. 70% of the revenue for the production house was obtained from Star then.
• After 2006, their top rated shows started to decline in viewership and were axed one by one by the channel. However, during 2008, differences arouse between Star India and Balaji due to termination of their serials over declining ratings, cancellation of joint venture for regional content in South India and as a result the agreement of Balaji buying Star's stake was terminated.
• Both suffered some downfall after it.However, after two years, they patched up and Tere Liye was the show produced after it in 2010.
• During the slight downfall in viewership in the end of the 2000s the no.1 position dominated by it for nine years continuously was beaten by the rival channel Colors TV in April 2009 for the first time pushing it to second position.During last week of May 2009, it was beaten by Zee TV for the first time in nine years, pushing it to third position and only Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai has maintained its ratings among Top 10.
• In week 12 while it dropped to fifth position in Hindi GEC while overall at sixth position in India, the following week the channel did not even feature in top ten Indian channels owing Covid-19 pandemic when production and new episodes broadcast were halted and reruns began. However in week 15 it returned to the top ten.

Unknown Facts:

• On 3 April 2017, it brought back its afternoon programming which was shut down eight years ago with the launch of 4 new soap operas from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm (IST).
• It was later extended up to 3:00 pm with Love Ka Hai Intezaar in May 2017 but was again made 2 hours from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm as the soap Tu Sooraj Main Saanjh Piyaji was shifted to prime time.
• Due to low ratings than expected, it was cancelled by the channel on 30 September in the same year.
• It was during that year, StarPlus which always remained in top three was positioned at seventh place in top 10 Indian GEC channels (urban+rural) and with fourth position in Hindi GEC channels, which is the first time it had a decline this much.

Star Parivaar Awards:

• The Star Parivaar Awards is an award presented for the various characters and programs of the channel under various categories annually by the channel, held usually during mid of the year.
• It was produced by Anil Jha and Sol productions. The first ceremony was held on 3 July 2003 at Mumbai. The award ceremony which used to be held annually since 2003 was not held since 2019

Network of Star

• StarPlus
• Star Bharat
• Star Utsav
• Star Gold
• Star Gold Select
• Star Gold 2
• Star Utsav Movies

Success: Case Study

• STAR Plus, with viewer ship larger than that of the No. 2, No. 3, No.4 channels put together, the mass is the undisputed No. 1 satellite channel in Hindi general entertainment, from the past four years. The TRP's, PRP's, TPR's everything else shows that STAR Plus is not only No. 1 in urban, rural and overall viewer ship, but they have also gained the most viewers across the southern and the extreme east diaspora. STAR Plus is also the fastest grown channel, gone are those days when it was about the emergence of a leader, its clear today, it's about the emergence of a trend.
• Star Plus, though a foreign based channel, under the control of the Hong-Kong based STAR Group Limited, it is the strongest channel in India maintaining its monopoly after the launch of its Mega show KBC, hosted by the Millennium STAR, AMITABH BACHCHAN, the STAR Pitamah and the Balaji's KSBKBT.
• STAR Plus, has also evenly showed its lethal effect on the other channels in its comparable competitive market, and is still in its form producing Quality serials. STAR Plus is the daily dose in India without which crisis may arise, which is even loved by the bosses of other media giants for its programming and is in the partnership deed with many companies like Prime Channel, Balaji Telefilms, A.K.Film's, UTV, Cinevistaas, Miditech, BAG Films, etc. But still the biggest asset for STAR is its own developed team spirit.
• STAR Plus dominates every entertainment genre and time band across the day. The channel also enjoyed a whooping TRP of 19.6 for its KSBKBT, it features the top 40 programs on cable in India every week and at times 50 out of 50 top shows. Prime time programs on STAR Plus consistently outperform other cable and satellite channels with the most popular programs recording shares in excess of 50% in the Hindi markets.