New Delhi: Undeterred by stiff competition posed by new entrants like Colors and NDTV Imagine in the general entertainment segment, Star India on Friday said that it has challenges but would reclaim the top slot.

“We have not been dethroned. We have got challengers in the Hindi space. We do not like it, but we also know we will fight back,” Star India chief executive officer Uday Shankar said.

He said that Star Plus continued to be very strong and disagreed that his Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) has been dethroned by the new entrants.

“Star Plus has been the number one entertainment channel for nine years. A few weeks here and there do not make a difference,” he added.

He conceded that Hindi GEC space has become very competitive, but maintained that despite slipping from the top spot, Star Plus continued to be ahead in the race.

“It is no more a fight between two or even three players. It has become a fight between four and five players. All one needs is one show to create an unsettling effect,” he said.

“Even in the weeks when we have not been no.1, it is barely a 10% gap and that gap changes on a weekly basis,” Shankar said.

Although he did not share the line up of new serials and concepts Star Plus is working on, Shankar said that the channel would soon launch a programme based on themes around spirituality and pilgrimage.

Shankar said the channel would continue to focus on women audience for viewership, although ‘saas-bahu’ serials which helped Star reach the top slot have moved to other channels.

He said Star, part of the global media group owned by Rupert Murdoch, was among the few broadcasters in India that was profitable despite a host of troublesome issues facing the industry.