MUMBAI: Thanks to the new government, the Times Television Network has reasons to rejoice.

The network had applied for a number of channel licences to the Information & Broadcasting Ministry which included for both entertainment and news channels.

“Thanks to the quickness of the current government, we have got the three news licences, which were old applications,” says the network managing director and CEO MK Anand while adding that a number of licences are still pending.

The three news channel licences are for Times Now 2, Times Now 3 and ET Now 3.

The network currently has Times Now, ET Now, Zoom TV, Movies Now and Romedy Now channels in its kitty.

Anand goes on to say that though the new licences have been awarded, the current plan will go on as it is. “These licences don’t impact our current strategy or my plans for the network.”

After the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) came out with its deaggregation paper, a number of networks have applied for new licences while some have even launched a new set of channels.

The year also saw the launch of three new Hindi entertainment channels – Zindagi, Sony Pal and Epic. TTN is the only network which doesn’t have a Hindi general entertainment channel to its list.  And with a few entertainment licenses applied by TTN pending with the MIB, one can see possibilities of a new GEC entrant in the market.