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Star expands reach of 4 channels on Comcast
MUMBAI: Star India, the wholly owned subsidiary of News Corporation, has expanded its partnership with Comcast by launching four channels into two additional US markets, Washington DC and Philadelphia
The four channels are Star Plus (Hindi general entertainment channel), Star One (youth-orientated entertainment channel), Star News (Hindi news channel) and Star Gold (Bollywood movie channell.
The Washington DC market availability includes the District of Columbia, Loudoun County in Virginia, and Frederick, Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland.
In addition, Star Plus is now also available on Comcast throughout its Colorado service area including Denver and Colorado Springs. Star channels are already distributed by Comcast in multiple locations across the United States, including California, Georgia, Texas, Illinois, Florida and Washington State.
“The increasing penetration of our channels is a testament of our ongoing efforts, and growing partnership, with Comcast to bring the best of South Asian entertainment to viewers across the nation,” said Star Sr VP of distribution, sales and marketing and head of Star’s North American office David Wisnia.
This channels will be part of Comcast’s Xfinity services, which include 100+ HD channels, 50 to 70 foreign-language channels, on demand video choices and broadband speeds of up to 50-100+ Mbps.
Xfinity also offers online entertainment choices through Xfinity TV online as well as applications that enable customers to program a DVR from the Internet or a mobile device, and cross-platform features like Caller ID to the TV and PC.
In Colorado, Star Plus is available on Comcast Digital TV channel 674. In the Philadelphia and Washington DC markets, Star Plus can be found on Comcast Digital TV channel 693, Star News on channel 690, Star Gold on channel 696 and Star One on channel 692.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
