Star News to launch its website soon

Former vice president of Publicitas Digital's business development and media assets, Ramakrishnan Laxman, has taken charge as head of Media Content & Communications Services India Pvt. Ltd (MCCS), a joint venture between the Kolkata-based Ananda Bazaar Patrika Group's ABP TV and the Star Group.

Laxman said that he would be responsible for setting up a new media division for Star News and also that the channel would be launching its own website soon, saying he could not divulge further details on channel's media plans.

Laxman has been involved mostly in setting up digital divisions for traditional media companies.

Before joining Publicitas Digital, he was director of online marketing at Blue Haze Marketing Services in Singapore. He also headed the internet division at the Ananda Bazar Group in Kolkata. Laxman has also worked with Mid-Day as head, internet, mobile and call centre business, and helped to establish the daily tabloid's internet and mobile businesses.

Laxman holds a masters degree in electronics from Mumbai University and an MBA from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.

While competitors in the news space like Zee, NDTV, Network18 and the latest entrant UTV were quick to launch individual sites for their news channels, Star has been lagging behind for sometime in this arena.