Star China Media, sometimes styled as STAR (an initialism for Satellite Television Asia Region), is an Asian television service owned by China Media Capital. It is headquartered in Hong Kong, with regional offices in mainland China, Taiwan and India.
According to the Star website, their service has more than 300 million viewers in 53 countries and is watched by approximately 120 million viewers every day.
Star TV was originally known as Star TV Network (Chinese: 衛星電視有限公司 (衛星電視)) and was incorporated on 24 February 1988 with a consortium of Hutchison Whampoa, China International Trust and Investment Corporation and Cable & Wireless Worldwide with joint venture of Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited, was established on 1 August 1990 a network of Star TV, subsidiary of News Corporation with owner by Congromerated of Rupert Murdoch and member of Hutchison Whampoa with owner by Congromerated of Richard Li, was started broadcasting of 5 satellite television channels on 1 July 1991 from AsiaSat-1 Satellite and was officially launch of Star TV is a satellite television in Asia based on 24-hours daily of 5 satellite television channels on 26 August 1991 at 21:00 HKT by the officially first satellite television channel on "Prime Sports" is a 24-hour daily of English and Chinese sport satellite channel with sport programmes by the motorsports, baseball, basketball, golf, badminton, tennis, professional wrestling & international multi-sport event a subsidiary of Prime Network and member of Liberty Media such:
In 1993, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation purchased 63.6% of Star for over $500 million, followed by the purchase of the remaining 36.4% on 1 January 1993. Murdoch declared that:
"(telecommunications) have proved an unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes everywhere ... satellite broadcasting makes it possible for information-hungry residents of many closed societies to bypass state-controlled television channels"
After this, the former prime minister Li Peng requested and obtained the ban of satellite dishes throughout the country. Subsequently the Star TV network dropped the BBC channels from its satellite offer. This, and many ensuing declaration from Murdoch, led critics to believe the businessman was striving to appease the Chinese government in order to have the ban lifted.
In February 2001, The company rebranded from "Star TV" to "Star", reflecting the company's evolution from a television brand to a multi-service, multi-platform brand.
In August 2009, Star Broadcasting Corporation revealed a restructure to its Asian broadcast businesses into three units – Star India, Star Greater China, and Fox International Channels Asia.
On 9 August 2010, News Corporation signed an agreement with China Media Capital (CMC), which CMC acquired a controlling stake in Star China's properties (Xing Kong, Xing Kong International, Channel [V] Mainland China and the Fortune Star Chinese movie library).
In 2014, 21st Century Fox has sold its minority stake in the broadcaster Star China TV to China Media Capital after finally giving up on the emerging Chinese television market.
Today, Star Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts over 60 services in 13 languages. Shows include entertainment, sports, movies, music, news and documentaries.
Reaching more than 300 million viewers in 53 countries across Asia, Star Broadcasting Corporation is watched by approximately 120 million viewers every day.
Star Broadcasting Corporation controls over 20,000 hours of Indian and Chinese programming. It also owns Fortune Star, the world's largest contemporary Chinese film library, with more than 600 titles, featuring superstars including Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-fat and Bruce Lee. In partnership with leading companies in Asia, Star Broadcasting Corporation businesses extend to filmed entertainment, television production, cable systems and distribution, direct-to-home services, terrestrial TV broadcasting, wireless and digital services.
In 1994, Star TV Network removed BBC World Service Television (now BBC World News) from the network following demands from the government of the People's Republic of China. It is alleged that the PRC government was unhappy with BBC coverage and threatened to block Star TV in the huge mainland Chinese market if the BBC was not withdrawn. This is despite technology that is capable of blocking BBC World in China, while making it available in other countries they serve.
Xing Kong – also known as Star Space, Mandarin general entertainment channel in People's Republic of China.
Channel [V] – a 24-hour international music video channel. There are local versions of Channel [V] in India, People's Republic of China, Republic of China, Philippines, Thailand and Australia.
Star Chinese Channel – a 24-hour Mandarin general entertainment channel for audiences in Taiwan and beyond. It is one of the five original Star TV channels when it launched on 21 October 1991.
Star Chinese Movies – a 24-hour Cantonese and Mandarin movie channel. One of the five original Star TV channels when it launched on 1 May 1994 as "Star Mandarin Movies" and re-launched on 31 March 1996 as "Star Chinese Movies".
Star Chinese Movies 2 – a 24-hour Cantonese and Mandarin movie channel that shows popular Chinese box-office hits from the 1970 until 1993. It is currently available in Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada and United States.
Star Entertainment Channel
Star Movies – a 24-hour English movie channel which broadcast to India, People's Republic of China, Middle East, Vietnam, Republic of China and Philippines.
Star World – a 24-hour English entertainment channel with to Southeast Asia and one of the five original Star TV channels when it launched on 15 December 1991 as "Star Plus" and re-launched on 31 March 1996 as "Star World".
Phoenix Chinese Channel – a 24-hour Mandarin international news and entertainment channel it was launched on 31 March 1996.
Phoenix InfoNews Channel – a 24-hour Mandarin international news channel it was launched on 1 January 2001.
Phoenix Movies Channel – a 24-hour Mandarin movie channel in People's Republic of China it was launched on 28 August 1998.
Phoenix Hong Kong Channel – a 24-hour Cantonese news and entertainment channel in Hong Kong it was launched on 28 March 2011.
Star Sports – a 24-hour sports channel which is the evolution of Prime Sports devoted to different sporting events, such as cricket, auto racing, golf, and many more. It was also broadcast by ESPN Star Sports and one of the five original Star TV channels when it launched on 21 August 1991 as "Prime Sports" and re-launched on 21 August 1993 as "Star Sports". It was formerly known as Prime Sports.
National Geographic Channel
Nat Geo People – formerly known as A1 and Nat Geo Adventure.
Nat Geo Wild – a 24-hour channel available in Singapore, Hong Kong, Middle East, Republic of China, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka.
National Geographic Channel HD – a 24-hour available in Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India, Taiwan and Malaysia only.
Fox Crime – the first and only 24-hour factual and fictional entertainment television channel dedicated to crime, investigation and mystery. Available in Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Middle East and South Korea.
FX – a 24-hour channel offering a broad mix programming targeted at male audiences including comedy, action sports, drama series, reality shows, cars and swimsuit model programs. It is available in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, India, Indonesia and Malaysia only.
Antv – an Indonesian national private commercial free-to-air terrestrial television channel in Indonesia.
VIVA Cinema – Star TV's Filipino movie channel, a joint venture with VIVA Entertainment, launched on 6 May 1996. This channel ceased broadcasting on 31 July 2003.
BBC World Service Television (now BBC World News) – a 24-hour English news channel and one of the original Star TV channels when it launched on 15 November 1991. It was a joint venture between BBC World News and Star TV, a subsidiary of BBC International Television, a member of BBC Television, and owned by BBC. It ended its affiliation on 30 April 1994 to broadcast separate ways, and it was replaced by Star TV American Movies Channel (now Star Movies) and Star Mandarin Movies Channel (now Star Chinese Movies) on 1 May 1994.
Star News (now ABP News) – a 24-hour English and Mandarin news channel and one of the original Star TV channels when it launched on 15 November 1991. Star News ended its relationship with Star TV on 31 March 1996.
MTV Asia – a 24-hour music video channel and one of the original Star TV channels when it launched on 15 September 1991 a joint venture between MTV Networks Asia Pacific owner by Viacom and Star TV; but it ended its affiliation on 30 April 1994 to broadcast separate ways and was replaced by Channel V.
Prime Sports – a 24-hour English and Mandarin sports channel and one of the original Star TV channels when it launched on 21 August 1991 a joint venture between Prime Network and Star TV; but it ended its affiliation on 20 August 1993 to broadcast separate ways & it was replaced by Star Sports on 21 August 1993.
Film Indonesia – a 24-hour Indonesian movie channel.
Star Plus Japan – a 24-hour Japanese entertainment channel.
TechTV – a 24-hour computer channel. It was formerly seen in the Middle East via Star Select.
EL TV – a 24-hour Hindi entertainment channel. EL TV ended its relationship with Star TV in 1999.
Zee TV – a 24-hour Hindi entertainment channel. Zee Network ended its relationship with Star TV in 1999.
Zee Cinema – a 24-hour Hindi movie channel. Zee Network ended its relationship with Star TV in 1999.
CNBC Asia – a 24-hour English business news channel launched in 1996, This channel terminated within 2006 replacing CNBC Europe. It was formerly available in the Middle East via Star Select.
CNBC Europe – a 24-hour English business news channel, formerly available on Star Select in the Middle East. This channel was terminated on 31 March 2007.
The History Channel – a 24-hour history and biography channel in India. This channel was relaunched as Fox History and Entertainment in November 2008.
Jetix – a 24-hour kids channel, formerly available on Star Select in the Middle East. This channel was terminated on 30 November 2008.
Fox Sports – a 24-hour sports channel, available on Star Select in the Middle East. This channel was terminated on 31 December 2008.
Channel V Korea – a music channel, the South Korean affiliate of Channel V, launched on 16 June 2001. The channel was temporarily shut down on 31 December 2008.
Fox News Channel
BabyTV – the first 24-hour, commercial-free channel for children under pre-schoolers. This channel is now available in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Philippines and India.
Sky News
ITV Granada – a 24-hour British entertainment from ITV plc now only available on Star Select in the Middle East, dropped from the line-up in the rest of Asia in 2002. It was formerly known as Granada UKTV and Granada TV.
MBC ESPN – a 24-hour sports channel it joint venture between ESPN and Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).
ESPN – a 24-hour sports channel with broadcast by ESPN Star Sports (ESS) a joint venture with ESPN International.
ESPNews Asia – a 24-hour sports news channel.
SBS ESPN – a 24-hour sports channel it joint venture between ESPN and Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS).
