Difference between Aaj Tak and Star News
A number of news channels keep the large Indian population updated with latest events around the world. Some of these are the most viewed channels on Indian television. After the success of Doordarshan in 1990’s, Indian television witnessed an outburst of private news channels competing to cover every national or international event of any significance. Star News, Aaj Tak, CNBC, NDTV, Zee News, Sahara Samay, Headlines Today are some of the most popular news channels in India. Many other upcoming channels are striving hard to compete with the existing in terms of glossy news editing, quick coverage and high definition visuals. This article compares the two most popular Indian News channels: Aaj Tak and Star News.
History
Star News was the first bilingual (English/Hindi) news channel to be launched in India. It was launched in 1998 in partnership with NDTV (New Delhi Television Company). After the five year agreement with NDTV expired Star News became a Hindi Entertainment service. It is based in Mumbai and has its own successful DTH service. Aaj Tak initially was a one hour news programme that was telecast every day. It was a huge success after which the team decided to launch a twenty four hour news channel with the same name ‘Aaj Tak’ which means “till today” when literally translated to English and was launched in December 2000. Its untiring coverage of Gujarat earthquakes in 2001 was widely appreciated.
Awards
Aaj Tak has received eight consecutive Best Channel awards by the Indian Television Academy. After a poll conducted by BBC, Aaj Tak was given the title of “The Most Trusted News Source” in India. It is interesting to note that government sponsored news channel called Doordarshan took second place in the poll. Star News was appreciated for its exhaustive coverage of the India-Pakistan Kargil war. Despite being called a credible news channel it is sometimes criticized for over sensitization of irrelevant stories.
Outside India
Outside India, Star News is shown in Europe, Hong Kong and the United States. In the U.S., the word “India” is incorporated in the logo to denote its Indian origin. In all these countries the news ticker is written in the English language. You will have to pay to watch Aaj Tak outside India. EchoStar’s dish network makes it available to people in the United States.
Summary
Aaj Tak
- After the success of 1-hour news programme, “Aaj Tak” was launched as a 24-hour channel in 2000.
- Its untiring coverage of Gujarat earthquakes in 2001 was widely appreciated.
- EchoStar’s dish network makes it available to the people in United States.
- Has received eight consecutive Best Channel awards by the Indian Television Academy.
- After a poll conducted by BBC, Aaj Tak was given the title of “The Most Trusted News Source” in India.
Star News
- It was the first bilingual (English/Hindi) news channel to be launched in India.
- It was launched in 1998 in partnership with NDTV.
- It is based in Mumbai and has its own successful DTH service.
- Outside India, Star News is shown in Europe, Hong Kong, and the United States.
- Criticism for over sensitizing irrelevant stories.
