MUMBAI: Celebrating the spirit of the state on Maharashtra Day, real estate company Sahana Group?s Marathi news channel Jai Maharashtra has gone live today.

The channel?s launch was announced on 27 April amidst much fanfare and glitz. Hundred per cent funded by the Sahana Group, the channel will be a 24x7 news channel with programming focus on the youth. The channel will beam off Insat 10.

The news broadcasters? test signal started in the first week of April. It will be present on DTH and cable digital platforms on launch. While on DTH it will be present on Videocon d2h, on the cable digital platforms it has signed deals with 7 Star, Scod18, Siti Cable and GTPL. Yezdi Sodabottlewala heads the distribution function of the channel.

While the channel?s main focus will be on news content, it will also have shows related to technology and gadgets, entertainment and sports. The idea is to engage the audience in conversations that impact Maharashtra as a state and not only the urban areas.

The editor Mandar Phanse elaborates, "There are a lot of regional news channels, but we aim to focus on what matters to the entire state rather than only focussing on the big cities. We also intend to carry shows backed by investigative reporting that reveal the true story behind issues plaguing the state. Apart from hard hitting news, we also have shows in the interactive format where we have gone to campuses and interacted with the youth. The debate format on the channel has been tweaked to allow more audience interaction rather than have just a panel of ?experts? voice their opinion."

The editorial team will be based pan-Maharashtra across 11 bureaus. Phanse himself has been the news editor for IBN7 Lokmat before joining Jai Maharashtra.
 
The new player has roped in Aidem Ventures to handle its ad sales. "We are very happy to get the opportunity to work with the Sahana Group for their first channel ?Jai Maharashtra?. The run up to the launch has been extremely successful and it?s a pleasure to work with an extremely talented and passionate team. The industry is now aware that a differentiated Marathi news channel is going to be launched. Our immediate goal as their Ad sales partner will be to capitalise on the buzz and the differentiated offering to create more awareness and higher SOV in the mind space of the advertiser in the short term and work with our agency partners to create a strong win - win partnership." Aidem Ventures director Vikas Khanchnadani stated.

The channel has undertaken extensive marketing activities for its launch including billboards, print campaign and radio tie ups. "We plan to keep up with the marketing activities after the launch as well in the form of on ground activities," says Sahana Films consultant editorial director Waahiid Ali Khan who heads operations at Jai Maharashtra.

The Sahana Group will also be launching a new Hindi news channel at the end of the year.