News Broadcasting
Real estate firm Sahana Group to launch two news channels
MUMBAI: Sudhakar Shetty-promoted real estate company Sahana Group is set to foray into television broadcast business with two news channels.
The Marathi news channel, Jai Maharashtra, will launch on 1 May, which is also the Maharashtra Day. Sahana News, a Hindi news channel, is planned for launch by the end of the year.
The test signal for Jai Maharashtra will start by first week of April.
The television business is housed under Sahana Films, a subsidiary of Sahana Group. Waahiid Ali Khan, who is the Consultant Editorial Director for Sahana Films, will oversee the operations of the Group’s television business.
“We have received licence for two news channels. The Marathi news channel will launch on 1 May while the Hindi one will be available by the year-end,” Khan tells Indiantelevision.com.
Undeterred by the presence of channels like Zee 24 Taas, ABP Majha, IBN Lokmat and TV9 Maharashtra, Khan feels that there is still space for a new Marathi news channel.
He is also confident about Sahana News despite the fragmented nature of the Hindi news genre.
Mandar Phanse is the editor of Jai Maharashtra while Tulsidas Bhoite and Ravi Ambekar are the executive editors of the channel. The news gathering for the channel has already begun with an active YouTube channel and an online portal, which will also web stream the channel.
The company is in talks with Aidem Ventures to handle ad sales. While Yezdi Sodabottlewala, who was earlier with Sri Adhikari Brothers, will head the distribution of the channel.
The hunt for putting in place the editorial team at Sahana News is also in progress.
The launch of Jai Maharashtra couldn’t have come at a better time, feels Khan, as the country is moving towards digitisation with three metros Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata already going digital.
With Mumbai fully digitised, Khan reckons that the carriage cost for the news channel has halved. “The distribution cost of Marathi news channels has become 50 per cent because of digitisation in Mumbai. In the second phase a lot of cities in Maharashtra are going digital,” he adds.
A typical Hindi news channel requires a capital expenditure of Rs 700 million to Rs 1 billion while the cost for running a regional news channel is less than half of that, says Khan.
Khan also revealed about the company’s ambition to become a national network by launching region-specific channels in future. “Sahana Films has applied to the government for six more licences to launch regional channels,” he reveals.
Jai Maharashtra Editor Mandar Phanse said that youth of Maharashtra will remain the focus of the channel. The existing Marathi news channels, he said, mostly cater to 45 plus age group.
The channel also aims to give equal coverage to urban and rural issues besides focusing on youth related issues like jobs and education. Phanse also bemoaned the fact that Marathi news channels focus too much on political issues.
“We want to represent the aspirations of the youth of Maharashtra with our news coverage. Sadly, what we see today on Marathi news channels is too much of political news which although required should be backed by focus on issues that impact common man,” avers Phanse.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
