ABP News

About ABP News

ABP News is a Hindi-language 24-hour news channel owned by the ABP Group, the Kolkata-based media conglomerate built around the Anandabazar Patrika newspaper. Headquartered in Sector 16A, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, it is one of India's leading Hindi news channels, broadcasting free-to-air across the country and internationally. The channel traces its origins to Star News, launched on February 18, 1998, and took its present name in 2012 after the ABP Group acquired full ownership. Today it anchors a bouquet of regional news channels that spans Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, and other Indian languages, and it has won the Best Hindi News Channel honour at the Indian Television Academy Awards.

History

ABP News was launched as Star News on February 18, 1998, by the satellite television provider Star India in partnership with New Delhi Television (NDTV), which produced the channel's programming. Initially a bilingual channel broadcasting in both English and Hindi, its programming turned Hindi-only in 2003, when Star's content arrangement with NDTV expired. That same year, the Indian government introduced guidelines limiting foreign equity in news broadcasting to 26 percent, and Star India, then a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Satellite Television Asia Region (Star TV), entered a joint venture with the Anandabazar Patrika Group to form Media Content and Communications Services India Pvt Ltd (MCCS), which took control of the channel's operations.

Under the joint venture, the ABP Group held a 74 percent majority stake while Star India retained the remaining 26 percent. On April 16, 2012, the ABP Group and Star India announced the end of the Star brand licensing agreement, and Star sold its minority stake in MCCS to the ABP Group, which renamed the channel ABP News. The rebranding was replicated across the regional channels operated by MCCS: the Bengali-language Star Ananda became ABP Ananda and the Marathi-language Star Majha became ABP Majha. In November 2016, Avinash Pandey was appointed chief operating officer of ABP News.

Ownership and Corporate Structure

ABP News is wholly owned by the ABP Group, one of India's oldest media houses, whose flagship publication, Anandabazar Patrika, is a leading Bengali daily. The group operates its broadcast business through ABP News Network Pvt Ltd (the successor to MCCS), with the channel's headquarters at Sector 16A, Noida, in the National Capital Region. The ABP Group also publishes The Telegraph, the English daily, and runs a substantial digital business through abplive.com.

The acquisition of full control in 2012 marked the ABP Group's emergence as a national broadcast player, extending a print legacy that stretches back to the early twentieth century into television news in Hindi and multiple regional languages. The company operates as a free-to-air broadcaster, generating revenue primarily from advertising, and its channels are carried on cable, direct-to-home platforms, and DD Free Dish across India.

Programming and Flagship Shows

ABP News broadcasts a mix of rolling news, prime-time debates, and long-format specials. Its schedule includes flagship debate and analysis programmes that have become fixtures of the Hindi news genre, alongside regular bulletins through the day. The channel's coverage of elections is a particular strength: it has mounted extensive on-ground programming for Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, deploying reporters across constituencies and using data-driven graphics for results coverage.

The network has also produced special programming around major national events, including Union Budgets, Independence Day and Republic Day broadcasts, and large-scale public-awareness initiatives. Like its competitors, the channel supplements hard news with crime, entertainment, and lifestyle segments in non-prime hours, and it carries regional and rural-focused programming that reflects its strong viewership in the Hindi heartland.

Editorial Identity

ABP News positions itself as a mainstream national Hindi news channel, with an editorial voice shaped by the ABP Group's journalistic heritage. The channel's taglines and branding have emphasised credibility and nationwide reach. At various points, critics and protest groups have accused the channel of partiality toward the ruling establishment, allegations the channel has rejected, while supporters point to its investigative reporting and election coverage.

The channel's style is characteristic of the Hindi news genre: high-tempo bulletins, studio debates with multiple panellists, and extensive use of graphics and live reporting. Its programming is produced in Hindi and aimed at the Hindi-speaking markets of northern, central, and western India, with particular strength in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

Reach and Viewership

ABP News is one of the top-rated Hindi news channels in India. In the BARC India weekly ratings, it has consistently ranked among the top three Hindi news channels in the combined urban-plus-rural market. In week 9 of 2018, for example, it secured the second position in the Hindi news genre with 259,622 impressions (000s) in the urban-plus-rural market, close behind Aaj Tak, and it took the second spot in both the rural and urban breakouts.

The channel's free-to-air availability on DD Free Dish gives it significant reach in rural and small-town India, where it competes closely with Aaj Tak, Zee News, India TV, and News18 India. Its weekly impressions in BARC data have regularly placed it in the 40,000-55,000 (000s) range in urban markets and above 100,000 (000s) in rural markets during high-news periods such as elections.

Regional Sister Channels

ABP News anchors a network of regional-language news channels under the ABP umbrella. These include ABP Ananda, the Bengali news channel; ABP Majha, the Marathi news channel; ABP Sanjha, the Punjabi channel launched in 2014; ABP Asmita, the Gujarati channel launched on January 1, 2016; ABP Ganga, serving the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar markets; ABP Nadu, the Tamil channel; and ABP Desam, the Telugu channel. The group also operates ABP Live, its digital news brand.

This regional bouquet makes the ABP news network one of the most linguistically diverse in Indian broadcasting, with a presence in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Telugu. The regional channels produce their own bulletins and debates tailored to state politics and local issues, while drawing on the network's national reporting resources for major stories.

Digital and Online Presence

The ABP Group's digital news platform, abplive.com, serves as the online home of ABP News, carrying live television streaming, video clips, and text news in Hindi and English. The group has invested in mobile applications and social media distribution, with the ABP News brand maintaining large followings on YouTube, Facebook, and X.

The digital operation produces web-exclusive video content and short-form explainers, and the group's live blogs and election trackers have drawn substantial traffic during major news events. ABP Live functions as a distinct digital brand within the group, extending the reach of the television channels to online audiences in India and the diaspora.

Awards and Recognition

ABP News won the Best Hindi News Channel award at the 21st edition of the Indian Television Academy Awards in 2022, a recognition of its standing in the Hindi news genre. The channel and its journalists have also been honoured at other industry awards for election coverage, special programming, and investigative reporting.

The award reflected the channel's sustained position among the top Hindi news channels by viewership and its investment in on-ground reporting and studio production. Industry coverage of the win noted the channel's strong performance during the pandemic and election cycles, when Hindi news viewership surged nationally.

Technology and Production

ABP News broadcasts in 1080i high definition, with its standard-definition feed downscaled for legacy distribution. The channel's Noida headquarters houses modern studios with augmented-reality graphics capabilities, which it has used for election results programming and special events. Like its peers, the channel employs outside-broadcast vans, drone cameras, and satellite links for live field reporting.

The network has also adopted digital newsroom workflows that integrate its television and online operations, allowing reporters to file simultaneously for broadcast and the abplive.com platform. This convergence has become a hallmark of the group's strategy as audiences increasingly consume news across multiple screens.

Headquarters and Operations

ABP News is headquartered at Sector 16A, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, where its main newsroom, studios, and management offices are located. The channel maintains bureaus and correspondents in state capitals and major cities across India, supporting its national and regional channels. It broadcasts free-to-air via satellite and is carried on all major cable and DTH platforms in India, as well as on DD Free Dish, giving it one of the widest distributions among Hindi news channels. Internationally, the channel reaches diaspora audiences through satellite and streaming partnerships.