New Delhi: Journalist Arnab Goswami’s soon-to-be-launched news channel Republic TV will be shown on Star India’s digital platform Hotstar, making it the first Indian news channel to be livestreamed on the platform.

Hotstar already has access to news content from global news brands like Fox News, Fox Business and Sky News.

The news channel is expected to go live on 6 May and will also launch its website republicworld.com on the same day.

ALSO READ: Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV rolls out ‘nation still wants to know’ campaign

“Hotstar is about to get a very interesting addition to its lineup. Starting 6 May, Arnab Goswami’s Republic will go live on Hotstar. We will have a brand new ‘News’ page hosting the live feed all day," read an internal memo of the company that’s been reviewed by Mint.

The livestream will be supported by advertising.

“Hotstar is a compelling destination for content cutting across genres and age groups. We are confident of breaking the digital barrier and believe this is the first step as news produced in India goes digital and then global. We believe the coming together of these two exciting brands and services will take news to the 90 million-plus viewers on Hotstar every month. You can now catch Republic on the move and on demand," said Goswami, editor-in-chief and founder of Republic TV.

ALSO READ: Times Group serves Arnab Goswami notice on using ‘nation wants to know’

The news channel is in the process of sealing multiple distribution tie-ups across the country. On Thursday, it tweeted about its latest distribution tie-up with direct-to-home (DTH) platform Tata Sky. “Republic TV is coming to your homes soon as a free-to-air channel. Check your cable/DTH operator now," the post read.

Earlier this month, Republic TV also announced a tie-up with Microsoft as its technology partner.

“Young India has embraced Hotstar. We believe that young, digitally savvy Indians are deeply interested in understanding their country and the world they live in. We are deeply committed to making sure that we continuously widen Hotstar’s offering, and the launch of Republic on Hotstar fills a big gap in our portfolio," said Uday Shankar, chairman and chief executive at Star India.

ALSO READ: Is there room for Republic TV?

Hotstar plans to introduce news as a distinct category on the platform, adding to its existing portfolio of popular TV shows, movies and sports. It clocked a viewership of 36.4 million for the ongoing T20 cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, in its first two weeks.

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