MUMBAI: Hindi GEC Star Plus has been upping its hours of original content this year by creating new prime-time slots.
Star Plus will have 40 and a half hours of fresh content per week from 25 February. This will be up from 34 hours of original programming per week that the channel ran until 26 January.
Focused on increasing its original programming hours, Star Plus has decided to create a 9-pm slot on Sunday with a new show titled ‘Koi Laut Ke Aaya Hai’.
Launching on 25 February, the supernatural thriller ‘Koi Laut Ke Aaya Hai’ will air on Saturdays and Sundays at 9 pm. The show will replace ‘Naamkaran’ on Saturdays. This 
means that ‘Naamkaran’, which currently airs Monday-Saturday at 9 pm, will run a day less. While ‘Naamkaran’ going off air has been a rumour doing the rounds, the series is set to take a 10-year leap in its storyline, which means it’s going to stay. It is also being speculated that Star Plus could create an afternoon band.
Currently, Star Plus has 40 hours of original programming, with only one non-fiction reality series, ‘Dil Hai Hindustani’.
The first move to ramp up programming hours this year was made on 26 January when Star Plus created a 5-pm slot. The popular show ‘Suhani Si Ek Ladki’, which had earlier aired at 6.30 pm, was moved to that time band. ‘Meri Durga’ was launched at the 6.30-pm slot that was earlier occupied by ‘Suhani Si Ek Ladki’. This took Star Plus’ original content hours to 37 a week.
The 11-pm slot was built on 13 February with the launch of ‘Dil Boley Oberoi’, which is a spin-off of Star Plus’ popular show ‘Ishqbaaz’. ‘Dil Boley Oberoi’ airs at 10.30 pm, shifting the existing high-octane family drama ‘P.O.W: Bandi Yuddh Ke’ to 11 pm. This way Star Plus added three hours of new content per week.
Of all the major Hindi GECs, Star Plus has the longest hours of original programming. Every Monday-Saturday, the channel has six hours of original content starting from 5 pm. On Sundays, fresh content will increase from four to four and a half hours from 25 February.
“Star Plus is ramping up its original hours of content this year. It is using this as a strategy to maintain its leadership position in the Hindi GEC genre,” a media analyst said.