MUMBAI: Star India?s English movie channel Star Movies will air the Oscar Awards live on 25 February at 6 am with a repeat at 8 pm. The broadcaster will be celebrating this month as the month of the Oscars.

There will be a programming initiative, ?Hollywood Premiere Oscar Special?, as the channel premieres four Oscar nominated titles - ?The Artist?, ?The Descendants?, ?The Kids are Alright? and ?War Horse?, every Saturday night at 9 pm.

There is also a month long ?Oscar Fever? festival where every night at 7 pm films that won or were nominated for Oscar Awards air like ?Titanic?, ?Black Swan?, ?Brokeback Mountain?, ?127 Hours? and ?Jaws?.

Commenting on the Oscars, Star India Senior Vice-President English Programming Rasika Tyagi says, "Star Movies has been the Home Of The Oscars in India, for over a decade. In addition to telecasting the event live on 25th February, our Hollywood Premieres slot will showcase Oscar winning titles like The Artist, The Descendants and War Horse every Saturday night at 9 pm though February. Star Movies? viewers can also watch 30 Oscar winning films on weekdays at 7 pm with our Oscar Fever festival."

To take the Oscar Award Ceremony beyond the event itself, the broadcaster has launched an Oscar Microsite that provides all that is needed to know about Oscar nominees and buzz around the globe. Along with the microsite the channel is running a Predict and Win contest that provides the participant an opportunity to visit the Oscars Live in Los Angeles next year.

MUMBAI: English movie channel Star Movies has been able to ink an output deal with Universal Studios. This would be a blow to HBO as it had the rights to air the movies from Universal Studios in India.

The new deal between Star Movies and Universal Studios will come into effect from 1 January 2013.

Star Movies has also renewed its first output deals with Walt Disney Studios and 20th Century Fox.

All these deals will give the broadcaster access to films like ?The Avengers?, ?The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1?, ?Snow White And The Huntsman?, ?John Carter?, and ?Battle Ship?

These first output deals with the major studios will help Star Movies strengthen its position in India. "These studios are understanding the importance of the Indian market and also identifying its credentials as the driver of the category in terms of reach, market share as well as thought leadership," Star said.

For HBO, which had slipped ground due to new competition, the new realignment has not been good news. Last year, Pix had snatched from HBO the rights to air movies from the Sony library. HBO, however, still has output deals with Warner and Paramount.

MUMBAI: English movie channel Star Movies will launch an initiative ?Superstar League Adventures? in April that will showcase blockbusters every night at 11 pm after an IPL match.

The initiative will have the films of stars like Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Nicholas Cage and Harrison Ford. The broadcaster has also created a contest on its Facebook fan page. People have to answer two questions every day ? one based on the movie and another on cricket. Winners will be given goodies.

Films that will air include ‘The Sorcerer‘s Apprentice‘, Percy Jackson And the Lightening Thief, Night At The Museum, Tron: Legacy and Zombieland.