MUMBAI: Star India?s English movie channel Star Movies will air the Oscar Awards live on 25 February at 6 am with a repeat at 8 pm. The broadcaster will be celebrating this month as the month of the Oscars.

There will be a programming initiative, ?Hollywood Premiere Oscar Special?, as the channel premieres four Oscar nominated titles - ?The Artist?, ?The Descendants?, ?The Kids are Alright? and ?War Horse?, every Saturday night at 9 pm.

There is also a month long ?Oscar Fever? festival where every night at 7 pm films that won or were nominated for Oscar Awards air like ?Titanic?, ?Black Swan?, ?Brokeback Mountain?, ?127 Hours? and ?Jaws?.

Commenting on the Oscars, Star India Senior Vice-President English Programming Rasika Tyagi says, "Star Movies has been the Home Of The Oscars in India, for over a decade. In addition to telecasting the event live on 25th February, our Hollywood Premieres slot will showcase Oscar winning titles like The Artist, The Descendants and War Horse every Saturday night at 9 pm though February. Star Movies? viewers can also watch 30 Oscar winning films on weekdays at 7 pm with our Oscar Fever festival."

To take the Oscar Award Ceremony beyond the event itself, the broadcaster has launched an Oscar Microsite that provides all that is needed to know about Oscar nominees and buzz around the globe. Along with the microsite the channel is running a Predict and Win contest that provides the participant an opportunity to visit the Oscars Live in Los Angeles next year.

MUMBAI: Star India has appointed former Hindustan Media Ventures Limited (HMVL) CEO Amit Chopra to steer the group?s sports strategy which includes the BCCI media rights.

The new appointment comes in the wake of Star?s increasing involvement in taking care of parent News Corp?s sports business in India. Earlier this year, Star had acquired the BCCI media rights till 2018 for Rs 38.51 billion. This was followed by News Corp consolidating its hold over sports broadcasting in Asia by acquiring for $335 million Disney?s 50 per cent stake in the equal joint venture company, ESPN Star Sports.

ESS is expected to come under Fox International Channels (FIC) for the rest of Asia while the India part will fall under Star India.

Chopra, whose designation is not yet revealed, will report to Star India COO Sanjay Gupta.

Chopra has rich experience in media and FMCG domains in a career spanning 20 years. As CEO of Hindustan Media Venture, he was credited with creating a successful language publishing business for the group.

An Engineer from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, Chopra has spent 12 years in FMCG in Hindustan Unilever in a variety of marketing and sales assignments.