MUMBAI: It has been a painful and long wait for Media Content and Communications Service’s news company ABP. It has been eagerly waiting for the licence for its Punjabi news channel, ABP Sanjha, which has finally been approved by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) bringing much needed relief.

MCCS had applied for the licence in early 2013 and since then has been showcasing content on its YouTube channel. Now that the licence has been approved, ABP Sanjha will be beamed off Insat 4A. The official date of launch and the names of the department heads will be announced soon, says an executive from MCCS.

ABP currently has channels in Hindi (ABP News), Marathi (ABP Majha) and Bengali (ABP Ananda). Sanjha will be the third feather to its regional spread.

Setting up of a regional news channel usually requires investment of approximately Rs 15 to Rs 20 crore with much of it going into distribution.  The state’s cable distribution is dominated by MSOs Fastway and Hathway and Siti Cable to a smaller extent, and hence will be the new channel’s first option.

The channel will compete with Punjabi news channels PTC News, Zee Punjab/Haryana/Himachal and MH1 News.