| "We
will be launching on 15 August. The channel will have 50 per cent of news and
50 per cent of entertainment content. It will have talent hunt shows, weekly comedy
and daily soaps, along with movies," Dabke tells Indiantelevision.com.
The upcoming
channel has also started buying telecast rights of Marathi movies and has so far
added around 100 movies in its library. "We
have acquired telecast rights of 100 movies. These include classics from 70s and
80s and new movies as well," avers Dabke. However, he refused to divulge
more details on programming and budget. Saam
TV has roped in Siddhi Vinayak productions for an action adventure daily series,
Vilakshan. For
the news part, Saam TV will rely on its Sakaal network. Daabke claims, "We
have extensive reach in Maharashtra and other Hindi speaking belt. We will use
our 32 bureaux and 20 stringers across the nation. Apart from Maharashtra, we
have one bureau each in Delhi, Gujarat, Goa, UP, MP and Bihar." The
channel's focus will not be on news breaks but on raising issues and discussing
current affairs. On
the viability of one more Marathi channel, Dabke asserts, "We believe there
is lot more to do in both entertainment and news in the Marathi space. Viewers
need and expect more quality and creativity, which is not there in the current
channels. We will deal with content differently." Headquartered
in Pune, Sakaal operations consist of regional newspapers, magazines, and internet
publishing. The
five regional dailies that Sakaal runs include three Marathi and two English publications. | 
