Disney Networks Group Asia Pacific: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
No edit summary Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
added {{confusing}} tag, copy edited what I believe to be most major mistakes out of the article (grammar, clarity, punctuation, spacing) |
||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
{{mi| |
{{mi| |
||
{{Cleanup rewrite |date=July 2024}} |
{{Cleanup rewrite |date=July 2024}} |
||
{{ |
{{Confusing|date=July 2024}} |
||
}} |
}} |
||
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} |
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} |
||
| Line 36: | Line 36: | ||
'''Disney Networks Group Asia Pacific''' was a [[Hong Kong]]-based [[commercial broadcasting]] company operating multiple [[Specialty channel|specialty television channels]]. The company was founded in 1991 by Hong Kong businessman [[Richard Li]]. |
'''Disney Networks Group Asia Pacific''' was a [[Hong Kong]]-based [[commercial broadcasting]] company operating multiple [[Specialty channel|specialty television channels]]. The company was founded in 1991 by Hong Kong businessman [[Richard Li]]. |
||
Originally established by [[Hutchison Whampoa]] and later acquired by the original [[News Corporation]], Star TV was once the most prominent satellite television broadcaster in the entire Asia region. On 20 March 2019 following Disney's [[Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney|acquisition of 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets]], Fox Networks Group Asia and Star India became a part of Disney, and Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific merged with [[Disney Branded Television]] unit. |
Originally established by [[Hutchison Whampoa]] and later acquired by the original [[News Corporation]], Star TV was once the most prominent satellite television broadcaster in the entire Asia region. On 20 March 2019, following Disney's [[Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney|acquisition of 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets]], Fox Networks Group Asia and Star India became a part of Disney, and Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific merged with the [[Disney Branded Television]] unit. |
||
DNG Asia Pacific's channels were available in [[Southeast Asia]], [[East Asia]], [[South Asia]], and the [[Middle East]]. |
DNG Asia Pacific's channels were available in [[Southeast Asia]], [[East Asia]], [[South Asia]], and the [[Middle East]]. |
||
| Line 42: | Line 42: | ||
==History== |
==History== |
||
===Launch=== |
===Launch=== |
||
The company was originally registered to the Companies Registry of Hong Kong as '''Quford Limited''' on 31 August 1990. The company was renamed '''Hutchvision Channel Services Limited''' on 31 January 1991 before becoming '''Satellite Television Asian Region Limited''' ({{Lang-zh|t=衛星電視有限公司|l=Satellite Television Limited}}) on 4 July 1991. It was established by Hutchison Whampoa and was headed by [[Richard Li]] (son of [[Li Ka-Shing]], the founder of [[Cheung Kong]] which owns Hutchison Whampoa). Hutchvision's plan interfered in the development of Hong Kong's cable network, facing concerns that it would cause competition for both viewers and advertising from satellite and terrestrial networks. At the time, Wharf Holdings had a 28% stake, followed by Sun Hung Kai at 27%, [[Run Run Shaw]]'s Shaw Brothers at 10% and US West and Belgium's Coditel at 25% each. As of September 1990, it had twelve transponders available on Asiasat-1, but there was the chance of ending the lease before 31 December.<ref>{{cite news |title=Satellite squeezing HK's cable television project |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/biztimes19900917-1.2.64.19 |access-date=14 May 2024 |work=The Business Times |date=17 September 1990}}</ref> In December 1990, it had set a new deadline to start its services |
The company was originally registered to the Companies Registry of Hong Kong as '''Quford Limited''' on 31 August 1990. The company was renamed '''Hutchvision Channel Services Limited''' on 31 January 1991 before becoming '''Satellite Television Asian Region Limited''' ({{Lang-zh|t=衛星電視有限公司|l=Satellite Television Limited}}) on 4 July 1991. It was established by Hutchison Whampoa and was headed by [[Richard Li]] (son of [[Li Ka-Shing]], the founder of [[Cheung Kong]] which owns Hutchison Whampoa). Hutchvision's plan interfered in the development of Hong Kong's cable network, facing concerns that it would cause competition for both viewers and advertising from satellite and terrestrial networks. At the time, Wharf Holdings had a 28% stake, followed by Sun Hung Kai at 27%, [[Run Run Shaw]]'s Shaw Brothers at 10% and US West and Belgium's Coditel at 25% each. As of September 1990, it had twelve transponders available on Asiasat-1, but there was the chance of ending the lease before 31 December.<ref>{{cite news |title=Satellite squeezing HK's cable television project |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/biztimes19900917-1.2.64.19 |access-date=14 May 2024 |work=The Business Times |date=17 September 1990}}</ref> In December 1990, it had set a new deadline to start its services -7 the end of 1991. The initial plan outlined "two or three" channels in its first phase, catering mainly to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand, and carrying music and sports. The Asiasat-1 beam enabled the channels to be picked up by a potential audience of 2.3 billion viewers.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hongkong satellite TV scheme sets end 1991 deadline |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/biztimes19901222-1.2.12.4 |access-date=14 May 2024 |work=The Business Times |date=22 December 1990}}</ref> There were talks of the [[Mediacorp|Singapore Broadcasting Corporation]] holding shares in the company, with its main goal being delivering its programming abroad.<ref>{{cite news |title=SBC seeks partners |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/biztimes19910419-1.2.9 |access-date=14 May 2024 |work=The Business Times |date=19 April 1991}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=SBC discusses tie-up with Li Ka-shing-linked satellite firm |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/biztimes19910513-1.2.4 |access-date=14 May 2024 |work=The Business Times |date=13 May 1991}}</ref> |
||
The company operated its television channels under a unified brand, '''Star TV''' ({{Lang-zh|t=衛星電視|p=Wèixīng Diànshì|l=Satellite Television}}). The company's strategy was to target the top 5 percent of Asian elites who spoke English and had bought power to offer pan-Asian English programming.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tanzar |first=A. |date=1991-11-11 |title=The Asian village |pages=58 |work=Forbes}}</ref> In its initial years, the channels were broadcast over AsiaSat 1 communication satellite operated by [[AsiaSat|Asia Satellite Telecommunications]] which was a consortium of Hutchison Whampoa, [[CITIC Group|China International Trust and Investment Corporation]] and [[Cable & Wireless Worldwide]] and its digital electronic services was funded by [[Sony]] based in [[Tokyo]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} Hutchvision itself owned one third of AsiaSat and Star TV used ten out of the twenty-four transponders in the AsiaSat 1 satellite.<ref name="and"></ref> |
The company operated its television channels under a unified brand, '''Star TV''' ({{Lang-zh|t=衛星電視|p=Wèixīng Diànshì|l=Satellite Television}}). The company's strategy was to target the top 5 percent of Asian elites who spoke English and had bought power to offer pan-Asian English programming.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tanzar |first=A. |date=1991-11-11 |title=The Asian village |pages=58 |work=Forbes}}</ref> In its initial years, the channels were broadcast over AsiaSat 1 communication satellite operated by [[AsiaSat|Asia Satellite Telecommunications]] which was a consortium of Hutchison Whampoa, [[CITIC Group|China International Trust and Investment Corporation]] and [[Cable & Wireless Worldwide]] and its digital electronic services was funded by [[Sony]] based in [[Tokyo]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} Hutchvision itself owned one third of AsiaSat and Star TV used ten out of the twenty-four transponders in the AsiaSat 1 satellite.<ref name="and"></ref> |
||
| Line 52: | Line 52: | ||
On 1 October 1992, Star TV added [[Zee TV]] (which targeted [[Hindi]]-speaking audiences) from [[Zee Entertainment Enterprises|Zee Telefilms]] in India to its line-up. |
On 1 October 1992, Star TV added [[Zee TV]] (which targeted [[Hindi]]-speaking audiences) from [[Zee Entertainment Enterprises|Zee Telefilms]] in India to its line-up. |
||
In 1993, [[Goldman Sachs]] became the exclusive advisor to Hutchison Whampoa Limited and the Li family |
In 1993, [[Goldman Sachs]] became the exclusive advisor to Hutchison Whampoa Limited and the Li family in the largest merger to date.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1993: Goldman Sachs' Hong Kong Relationships Pave the Way for Largest Asia Media Merger |url=https://www.goldmansachs.com/our-firm/history/moments/1993-star-tv.html |website=[[Goldman Sachs]]}}</ref> |
||
In February 1993, Julian Mounter, former director-general of [[Television New Zealand]], was appointed as president and Chief Executive of the company.<ref name="Variety-93FEB08">Ilott, Terry "[https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/mounter-prez-hutchvision-103813/ Mounter: prez, Hutchvision]" ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' 8 February 1993</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bulbeck |first1=Pip |title=Mounter in The Saddle |url=https://archive.org/details/multichannel-news-international-december-1998/page/n3/mode/2up? |access-date=23 May 2024 |work=Multichannel News International |publisher=Cahners |date=1 December 1998 |page=5}}</ref> |
In February 1993, Julian Mounter, former director-general of [[Television New Zealand]], was appointed as president and Chief Executive of the company.<ref name="Variety-93FEB08">Ilott, Terry "[https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/mounter-prez-hutchvision-103813/ Mounter: prez, Hutchvision]" ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' 8 February 1993</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bulbeck |first1=Pip |title=Mounter in The Saddle |url=https://archive.org/details/multichannel-news-international-december-1998/page/n3/mode/2up? |access-date=23 May 2024 |work=Multichannel News International |publisher=Cahners |date=1 December 1998 |page=5}}</ref> |
||
In March 1993, Star TV was offered to join ranks made by the [[Asia Business News]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Star Woos ABN for Asian Pay-TV |work=The New York Times |date=8 April 1993 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/08/business/worldbusiness/IHT-star-woos-abn-for-asian-paytv.html |last1=Murphy |first1=Kevin }}</ref> By that year, the service's advertisement bookings were extensive. Julian Mounter — the chief executive and the president of HutchVision, stated that the company |
In March 1993, Star TV was offered to join ranks made by the [[Asia Business News]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Star Woos ABN for Asian Pay-TV |work=The New York Times |date=8 April 1993 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/08/business/worldbusiness/IHT-star-woos-abn-for-asian-paytv.html |last1=Murphy |first1=Kevin }}</ref> By that year, the service's advertisement bookings were extensive. Julian Mounter — the chief executive and the president of HutchVision, stated that the company planned to launch the AsiaSat 2 satellite sometime in the subsequent two years, while starting their pay-TV services. Mounter also signed agreements with four companies, mostly programme suppliers, stating that the company would have as many as six channels operating by April 1994. He also said that the programmes would include more [[English language|English]] and [[Chinese language|Chinese]] movie channels, a business channel, a children's channel, what was supposed to be a documentary channel, and another entertainment channel. With the launch of the new AsiaSat satellite, Star TV would have to be capable for broadcasting as many as one-hundred channels.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Courtney |first=Christine |date=1993-05-11 |title=Media : A Star Rises in the East : Hong Kong-based Star Television, the first pan-Asian network, has seen astounding growth. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-11-wr-34106-story.html |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> In June 1993, Star TV and [[Hong Kong Cable Television|Wharf Cable]] signed a deal in which Hong Kong's new cable television provider would carry Star TV's channels.<ref>"[https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/wharf-pacts-with-hutchvision-107552/ Wharf pacts with HutchVision]" ''Variety'' 7 June 1993</ref> However, the deal was terminated in February 1994 in a dispute between the two parties.<ref>"[https://variety.com/1994/tv/news/star-tv-drops-wharf-pact-118753/ Star TV drops Wharf pact]" [[Reuters]] 28 February 1994 via ''Variety''</ref> |
||
===Sale to News Corporation=== |
===Sale to News Corporation=== |
||
Star TV's viewership across Asia increased over the years and it attracted advertisers, but the business was making loss. The company was looking for an [[Anglophone]] partner for financial investments, additional English language programming and technical assistance, especially to launch a pay-television system that would carry encrypted channels.<ref name="UKIndy-93MAY02">{{cite news |last1=Amoore |first1=Topaz |last2=Nisse |first2=Jason |title=Pearson chases TV stake in Hong Kong |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/pearson-chases-tv-stake-in-hong-kong-2320598.html |access-date=6 January 2019 |work=[[The Independent]] |date=2 May 1993}}</ref> |
Star TV's viewership across Asia increased over the years and it attracted advertisers, but the business was making loss. The company was looking for an [[Anglophone]] partner for financial investments, additional English language programming and technical assistance, especially to launch a pay-television system that would carry encrypted channels.<ref name="UKIndy-93MAY02">{{cite news |last1=Amoore |first1=Topaz |last2=Nisse |first2=Jason |title=Pearson chases TV stake in Hong Kong |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/pearson-chases-tv-stake-in-hong-kong-2320598.html |access-date=6 January 2019 |work=[[The Independent]] |date=2 May 1993}}</ref> |
||
On 1 May 1993, [[Pearson plc|Pearson]] approached Star TV's owners, and was expected to pay up to GBP 100 million.<ref name="UKIndy-93MAY02" /> Pearson (which owned minor stake in British broadcasters [[Sky Group|BSkyB]] and [[Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television]] at the time, and had just acquired [[Thames Television]]) was looking to expand its media business outside the UK, especially because the British laws at that time did not allow Pearson to expand more on UK television business.<ref name="NYT-93JUL28">{{cite news |last1=Ipsen |first1=Erik |title=Pearson Sheds Units to Focus More on Media |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/28/business/worldbusiness/IHT-pearson-sheds-units-to-focus-more-on-media.html |access-date=6 January 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=28 July 1993}}</ref><ref name="Variety-93JUL28">{{cite news |last1=Dawtrey |first1=Adam |title=Star-crossed Pearson rethinks |url=https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/star-crossed-pearson-rethinks-109099/ |access-date=6 January 2019 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=28 July 1993}}</ref> Pearson was looking for |
On 1 May 1993, [[Pearson plc|Pearson]] approached Star TV's owners, and was expected to pay up to GBP 100 million.<ref name="UKIndy-93MAY02" /> Pearson (which owned minor stake in British broadcasters [[Sky Group|BSkyB]] and [[Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television]] at the time, and had just acquired [[Thames Television]]) was looking to expand its media business outside the UK, especially because the British laws at that time did not allow Pearson to expand more on UK television business.<ref name="NYT-93JUL28">{{cite news |last1=Ipsen |first1=Erik |title=Pearson Sheds Units to Focus More on Media |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/28/business/worldbusiness/IHT-pearson-sheds-units-to-focus-more-on-media.html |access-date=6 January 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=28 July 1993}}</ref><ref name="Variety-93JUL28">{{cite news |last1=Dawtrey |first1=Adam |title=Star-crossed Pearson rethinks |url=https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/star-crossed-pearson-rethinks-109099/ |access-date=6 January 2019 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=28 July 1993}}</ref> Pearson was looking for 66% of the company, but the deal was reported to have required the Hong Kong side to remain active shareholders, causing the deal to be rejected. <ref name="NYT-93JUL28" /><ref name="Variety-93JUL28" /> The initial negotiations with [[Rupert Murdoch]] were reported to have foundered after the Australian businessman demanded a controlling stake in the Hong Kong company.<ref name="UKIndy-93MAY02" /> On same day, Murdoch's [[News Corporation]] purchased 63.6% of Star TV for [[United States dollar|US$]]525 million, half in cash, half in News Corporation's ordinary shares, blocking offers from Pearson. The deal came after News Corporation failed to acquire 22% of [[TVB]] because of regulatory issues.<ref name="SCMP-93JUL27">Tam, Luisa "[https://www.scmp.com/article/38310/news-buys-star-tv News buys Star TV]" ''[[South China Morning Post]]'' 27 July 1993 ''SCMP'' was owned by [[News Corporation]] at the time of announcement.</ref><ref name="Variety-93JUL27">{{cite web|last=Palmer |first=Rhonda |url=https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/murdoch-catches-rising-star-108977/ |title=Murdoch catches rising Star |publisher=Variety |date=27 July 1993 |access-date=29 June 2013}}</ref><ref name="NYT-93AUG23">{{cite web|last=Shenon |first=Philip |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/23/business/the-media-business-star-tv-extends-murdoch-s-reach.html |title=Star TV Extends Murdoch's Reach |work=The New York Times |date=23 August 1993 |access-date=29 June 2013}}</ref> News Corporation acquired the remaining 36.4% for US$299 million in July 1995.<ref name="SCMP-95JUL19">Kennedy, Sean "[https://www.scmp.com/article/124893/mogul-takes-all-star Mogul takes all of Star]" ''[[South China Morning Post]]'' 19 July 1995</ref><ref name="Variety-95JUL24">"[https://variety.com/1995/scene/markets-festivals/murdoch-takes-over-star-99129461/ Murdoch Takes Over Star]" ''Variety'' 24 July 1995</ref> Li family and Hutchison Whampoa would retain its shares in Hutchvision Hong Kong Limited, which uplinked Star TV's channels.<ref name="SCMP-93JUL27" /><ref name="Variety-93JUL27" /><ref name="SCMP-95JUL19" /><ref name="Variety-95JUL24" /> With the amount of money made from the 1993 sale, Richard Li went on to establish his own venture, [[Pacific Century Group]].<ref name="LAT-94APR11">Courtney, Christine "[https://articles.latimes.com/1994-04-11/business/fi-44804_1_hong-kong Hong Kong Rich Kid Turns Asia on Its Headset : Media: Richard Li declines family job to found satellite-TV venture. Next goal is pan-Asian 'information exchange.']" ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' 11 April 1994</ref> It was later theorized by author Shiau Hong-chi wrote that Murdoch's purchase of Star TV was based on a theory of media globalization assuming that people across every nation and languages would watch the same TV programs with as little effort as possible with the original plan for Star TV being to broadcast popular American shows to Asian audience. However, the plan would deem unsuccessful with Star TV being forced to invest heavily on local branches to make local shows for the Asian audience.<ref name="SHIAU">Shiau, Hong-chi. ''Animating the cute, the mean and the beautiful: the production and consumption of animation: Taiwan's struggles in the age of globalization''. Saarbrucken [Germany]: VDM, Verlag Dr. Muller. 2008. {{ISBN|9783639093971}} {{OCLC|298596290}}</ref> On 1 August 1993, following News Corporation's takeover, Julian Mounter resigned as Chief Executive of the company. [[Sam Chisholm]], who was the head of BSkyB at the time, became acting Chief Executive before he was formally appointed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Palmer |first1=Rhonda |title=Mounter dismounts Star TV |url=https://variety.com/1993/biz/news/mounter-dismounts-star-tv-109283/ |access-date=7 January 2019 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=4 August 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hotten |first1=Russell |last2=Poole |first2=Teresa |title=Mounter quits as StarTV chief |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/mounter-quits-as-startv-chief-1459209.html |access-date=7 January 2019 |work=[[The Independent]] |date=5 August 1993}}</ref><ref name="UKIndy-93AUG08">{{cite news |last1=Nisse |first1=Jason |title=BSkyB chief in move to Murdoch's Star TV |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/bskyb-chief-in-move-to-murdochs-star-tv-1459955.html |access-date=7 January 2019 |work=[[The Independent]] |date=8 August 1993}}</ref> |
||
In July 1993, Star TV was purchased by [[Rupert Murdoch]] for US$525 million. This was Murdoch's most important acquisition since the debt-restructuring crisis in 1990. He also bought Hutchvision, the parent company of Star TV.<ref name="ready">{{cite news |title=Murdoch's global TV ready for takeoff |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19930827-1.2.67.7.3 |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=27 August 1993}}</ref> |
In July 1993, Star TV was purchased by [[Rupert Murdoch]] for US$525 million. This was Murdoch's most important acquisition since the debt-restructuring crisis in 1990. He also bought Hutchvision, the parent company of Star TV.<ref name="ready">{{cite news |title=Murdoch's global TV ready for takeoff |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19930827-1.2.67.7.3 |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=27 August 1993}}</ref> |
||
| Line 67: | Line 67: | ||
In January 1994, James Griffiths resigned as a managing director and Gary Davey took his place.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Kevin |date=1994-01-06 |title=Star TV Said to Replace Its Chairman, Again |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/06/business/worldbusiness/IHT-star-tv-said-to-replace-its-chairman-again.html |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> With the controversial removal of [[BBC World Service Television]] from the company's satellite television offerings for [[Northeast Asia]] in mid-April 1994 (discussed [[#Removal of BBC WSTV from line-up|below]]), Star TV replaced the BBC channel with two channels; English-language film channel [[Fox Movies (Asia)|Star Movies]] and Chinese-language film channel [[Star Chinese Movies]].<ref name="UPI-94MAR22" /> The decision about replacing WSTV with the movie channels were made while Star TV considering the launch of a documentary and educational channel that two companies had a joint-venture in them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lippman |first=John |date=1994-01-13 |title=Troubled Star TV Sees Fast Growth in Asia |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-13-fi-11465-story.html |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> |
In January 1994, James Griffiths resigned as a managing director and Gary Davey took his place.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Kevin |date=1994-01-06 |title=Star TV Said to Replace Its Chairman, Again |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/06/business/worldbusiness/IHT-star-tv-said-to-replace-its-chairman-again.html |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> With the controversial removal of [[BBC World Service Television]] from the company's satellite television offerings for [[Northeast Asia]] in mid-April 1994 (discussed [[#Removal of BBC WSTV from line-up|below]]), Star TV replaced the BBC channel with two channels; English-language film channel [[Fox Movies (Asia)|Star Movies]] and Chinese-language film channel [[Star Chinese Movies]].<ref name="UPI-94MAR22" /> The decision about replacing WSTV with the movie channels were made while Star TV considering the launch of a documentary and educational channel that two companies had a joint-venture in them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lippman |first=John |date=1994-01-13 |title=Troubled Star TV Sees Fast Growth in Asia |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-13-fi-11465-story.html |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> |
||
In April 1994, Star TV had formed a three-year partnership |
In April 1994, Star TV had formed a three-year partnership with [[Asia Television]], as Star TV struggled to be part of the Chinese-language programme battle with [[TVB]]. The joint-venture marked the beginning of the long-term cooperation for the programmes and for the co-productions. However, this agreement also superseded the previous program supply deal made in 1991 (with ATV being the part of the Chinese Channel's programming and Star was still being owned by the Li Ka-Shing family) that it were foundered due to the strike. Star TV also acquired one-thousand hours annually of prime-time dramas and special programming dubbed in [[Mandarin Chinese]]. ATV also provided dubbing and other facilities for the Star TV Network. The joint-venture also co-produced fewer than 40 hours of quality dramas per year, broadcast simultaneously with ATV showing the original programming in [[Cantonese]] in the [[British Hong Kong]] territory, and Star TV showing them in [[Mandarin Chinese]]. In addition, Star TV also operated the Chinese Channel in competition to TVB. Star TV also bought a library of more than 570 Chinese films from the [[Orange Sky Golden Harvest|Golden Harvest Group]] and had recently announced a deal of more than 50 films to be produced in the next three years by [[Media Asia Entertainment Group|Media Asia Film]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1994-04-26 |title=Star TV inks 3-yr. Pact with Asia TV |url=https://variety.com/1994/tv/news/star-tv-inks-3-yr-pact-with-with-asia-tv-120490/ |access-date=2023-04-07 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> |
||
Star TV and [[Viacom (1952–2006)|Viacom]] ([[MTV]]) ended partnership that supplied [[music television]] programming, so Star TV launched [[Channel V]] to replace the [[MTV|American brand]]. The [[Channel V India|Indian version]] was launched on 23 May 1994, |
Star TV and [[Viacom (1952–2006)|Viacom]] ([[MTV]]) ended a partnership that supplied [[music television]] programming, so Star TV launched [[Channel V]] to replace the [[MTV|American brand]]. The [[Channel V India|Indian version]] was launched on 23 May 1994, followed by four additional versions: Channel V International, [[Channel V Thailand]], Channel V Korea, Channel V Japan, and another three versions in [[Mandarin Chinese]], [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] and [[Cantonese]].<ref>{{cite news |author1=Mir Maqbool Alam Khan |title=CHANNEL V DON ATYEO: HONG KONG |url=https://adage.com/article/news/channel-v-don-atyeo-hong-kong/75379/ |access-date=7 January 2019 |work=[[Advertising Age]] |date=9 December 1996}}</ref> Star TV split its satellite signal to both northern and southern beams, resulting in a change for both operations. The northern beam included [[Fox Sports (Asian TV network)|Prime Sports]], [[Channel V]], [[StarPlus|Star Plus]], [[Star Movies]] and [[Star Chinese Channel]], while the southern beam had Prime Sports, Channel V, Star Plus, [[BBC World Service Television|BBC WSTV]], [[Zee TV]] and Zee Cinema.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1995-05-19 |title=A entertainment bazaar |pages=37 |work=Asiaweek}}</ref> However, Star Sports' northern beam featured soccer and gymnastics, while the southern beam included cricket for Indian viewers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Engardio |first=P. |title=Star TV learns to think small |pages=22 |work=Business Week}}</ref> However, after the purchase of a 49.9% interest of Zee TV in early-1994, the northern beam launched [[Zee News]] and Zee Cinema, which were Zee TV's sister channels.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Karp |first=J. |date=1994-01-06 |title=Second Front |pages=84 |work=Far Eastern Economic Review}}</ref> |
||
Star TV channels were rebroadcast terrestrially in Brunei as of late 1994.<ref>{{cite news |title=Labuan TV viewers complain of sex scenes |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19950101-1.2.26.5 |access-date=21 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=1 January 1995}}</ref> |
Star TV channels were rebroadcast terrestrially in Brunei as of late 1994.<ref>{{cite news |title=Labuan TV viewers complain of sex scenes |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19950101-1.2.26.5 |access-date=21 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=1 January 1995}}</ref> |
||
Star TV had proposed to expand to Malaysia in late 1994, with its spokesman |
Star TV had proposed to expand to Malaysia in late 1994, with its spokesman stating that it would be "a place to do business" due to Malaysia's position as an important country in Asia. This would mark the end of a feud between Malaysian and British media. <ref>{{cite news |title=Star TV plans broadcasts to Malaysia |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19941113-1.2.31.3 |access-date=16 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=13 November 1994}}</ref> |
||
Star TV reached Indonesia in 1995 through an agreement with satellite provider [[Indovision]]. 15 channels were planned to launch in the second half of the year. <ref>{{cite news |title=Star TV seals Jakarta deal |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19950315-1.2.50.31.1 |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=15 March 1995}}</ref> |
Star TV reached Indonesia in 1995 through an agreement with satellite provider [[Indovision]]. 15 channels were planned to launch in the second half of the year. <ref>{{cite news |title=Star TV seals Jakarta deal |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19950315-1.2.50.31.1 |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=15 March 1995}}</ref> |
||
| Line 85: | Line 85: | ||
In early-1996, Star TV formed a third-party joint-venture as [[Phoenix Television|Phoenix Satellite Television Corporation]], offering three channels on its service targeting China, with [[Phoenix Television|Phoenix Chinese Channel]] offering variety & entertainment, [[Star Sports (East Asian TV channel)|Star Sports]] and Phoenix Movies.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Star's Phoenix rises over China |pages=16 |work=Television Business International}}</ref> On 30 March 1996 at 7 pm [[Hong Kong Time]], Star TV split into Star Plus and Star Chinese Channel by certain areas.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sullivan |first1=Maureen |title=Asian TV team christens venture ESPN Star Sports |url=https://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/asian-tv-team-christens-venture-espn-star-sports-1117433553/ |access-date=11 January 2019 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=15 January 1997}}</ref> |
In early-1996, Star TV formed a third-party joint-venture as [[Phoenix Television|Phoenix Satellite Television Corporation]], offering three channels on its service targeting China, with [[Phoenix Television|Phoenix Chinese Channel]] offering variety & entertainment, [[Star Sports (East Asian TV channel)|Star Sports]] and Phoenix Movies.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Star's Phoenix rises over China |pages=16 |work=Television Business International}}</ref> On 30 March 1996 at 7 pm [[Hong Kong Time]], Star TV split into Star Plus and Star Chinese Channel by certain areas.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sullivan |first1=Maureen |title=Asian TV team christens venture ESPN Star Sports |url=https://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/asian-tv-team-christens-venture-espn-star-sports-1117433553/ |access-date=11 January 2019 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=15 January 1997}}</ref> |
||
In 1997, Star TV launched Star Select package of television channels targeting the [[Middle East]] via the Orbit (now [[OSN]]) service. In 1998, Star TV and [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] were in discussion to launch a new |
In 1997, Star TV launched the Star Select package of television channels targeting the [[Middle East]] via the Orbit (now [[OSN]]) service. In 1998, Star TV and [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] were in discussion to launch a new MGM movie channel in India. Rathikant Basu also stated that the company was considering to launch four new regional channels, including those in [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] and [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mathur |first=Arti |date=1998-09-24 |title=Star TV India, MGM talk movie channel |url=https://variety.com/1998/tv/news/star-tv-india-mgm-talk-movie-channel-1117480739/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> In December 1998, the Star TV Network's channels were supposed to be removed on the [[MNC Vision|Indovision]] service due to a bitter clash between the company and Indovision.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Groves |first=Don |date=1998-11-05 |title=Sat spat showdown set for Star TV, Indovision |url=https://variety.com/1998/tv/news/sat-spat-showdown-set-for-star-tv-indovision-1117488187/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> A court later upheld Star TV's decision to not sell its channels anywhere across Indonesia. During the same month, Star TV announced its partnership with [[Phoenix Television|Phoenix Satellite TV]], and in cooperation with the European-based [[Phoenix Chinese News and Entertainment Channel|Chinese News and Entertainment]], launched Phoenix Europe, a Mandarin-language channel that broadcasted entertainment and news from Phoenix Television's libraries to European audiences in August of the same year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Groves |first=Don |date=1999-07-15 |title=Star wins in Jakarta court |url=https://variety.com/1999/biz/news/star-wins-in-jakarta-court-1117742980/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> |
||
In May 1999, Star TV migrated its services from AsiaSat 1 and 2 to AsiaSat 3S.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Maureen |date=1999-05-05 |title=Star TV finds new satellite platform |url=https://variety.com/1999/tv/news/star-tv-finds-new-satellite-platform-1117500053/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> |
In May 1999, Star TV migrated its services from AsiaSat 1 and 2 to AsiaSat 3S.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Maureen |date=1999-05-05 |title=Star TV finds new satellite platform |url=https://variety.com/1999/tv/news/star-tv-finds-new-satellite-platform-1117500053/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> |
||
By late-1999 to the early-2000s, Star TV used AsiaSat 3S and Palapa C2 to broadcast across Asia and the Middle East in 53 countries with the audience reaching up to 300 million. [[Star Chinese Channel]], [[Phoenix Television|Phoenix Chinese Channel]], [[StarPlus|Star Plus]], [[Star World]], [[Channel V]], [[Fox Sports (Asian TV network)|ESPN]], Star Sports, [[Star Movies]], [[Phoenix Movies Channel|Phoenix Movies]], [[Pinoy Box Office|Viva Cinema]], [[ABP News|Star News]], [[Zee News]], Zee Cinema, [[Zee TV]], [[Fox News]], [[Sky News]] and the [[National Geographic (Asian TV channel)|National Geographic Channel]] were broadcast on the service at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2000-04-08 |title=Corporate - The Star Vision |url=http://www.startv.com/eng/corporate/history/history.html |access-date=2023-04-07 |archive-date=2000-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000408222659/http://www.startv.com/eng/corporate/history/history.html |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> |
By late-1999 to the early-2000s, Star TV used AsiaSat 3S and Palapa C2 to broadcast across Asia and the Middle East in 53 countries with the audience reaching up to 300 million. [[Star Chinese Channel]], [[Phoenix Television|Phoenix Chinese Channel]], [[StarPlus|Star Plus]], [[Star World]], [[Channel V]], [[Fox Sports (Asian TV network)|ESPN]], Star Sports, [[Star Movies]], [[Phoenix Movies Channel|Phoenix Movies]], [[Pinoy Box Office|Viva Cinema]], [[ABP News|Star News]], [[Zee News]], Zee Cinema, [[Zee TV]], [[Fox News]], [[Sky News]] and the [[National Geographic (Asian TV channel)|National Geographic Channel]] were broadcast on the service at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2000-04-08 |title=Corporate - The Star Vision |url=http://www.startv.com/eng/corporate/history/history.html |access-date=2023-04-07 |archive-date=2000-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000408222659/http://www.startv.com/eng/corporate/history/history.html |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> |
||
The Indian operations was estimated to account for 55% of Star TV's revenues in Asia at the time.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jacob |first=R. |date=2002-04-15 |title=Star begins to shine as it reports a profit |pages=29 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> On 15 January 2000, Star TV added [[Disney Channel (Southeast Asian TV channel)|Disney Channel]], as the company handling its distribution and ad sales for the channel, it marks the second partnership with [[The Walt Disney Company]], which also owned ESPN. On 1 July 2000, Zee TV ended partnership with Star TV. The Hong Kong-based company converted Star Plus to a Hindi entertainment channel, and introduced Star World in the area as an English entertainment replacement. In 2000, Star TV inserted even more focus in the two markets, including China and India. In India, following the conversion of Star Plus into a Hindi general entertainment channel, it received success with the Indian ''[[Kaun Banega Crorepati|Who Wants to be a Millionaire]]'', and with several Hindi-language popular serials, surpassing their rivals — [[Zee TV]] and [[Sony Entertainment Television]] in ratings. |
The Indian operations was estimated to account for 55% of Star TV's revenues in Asia at the time.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jacob |first=R. |date=2002-04-15 |title=Star begins to shine as it reports a profit |pages=29 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> On 15 January 2000, Star TV added [[Disney Channel (Southeast Asian TV channel)|Disney Channel]], as the company handling its distribution and ad sales for the channel, it marks the second partnership with [[The Walt Disney Company]], which also owned ESPN. On 1 July 2000, Zee TV ended partnership with Star TV. The Hong Kong-based company converted Star Plus to a Hindi entertainment channel, and introduced Star World in the area as an English entertainment replacement. In 2000, Star TV inserted even more focus in the two markets, including China and India. In India, following the conversion of Star Plus into a Hindi general entertainment channel, it received success with the Indian ''[[Kaun Banega Crorepati|Who Wants to be a Millionaire]]'', and with several Hindi-language popular serials, surpassing their rivals — [[Zee TV]] and [[Sony Entertainment Television]] in ratings. On New Year's Day 2001, at midnight, the company was rebranded from Star TV to '''Star''', reflecting the company's evolution from a television brand to a multi-service, multi-platform brand. In Chinese, the company referred itself as ''Xīngkōng Chuánméi'' ({{Lang-zh|t=星空傳媒|l=Star Media}}) instead of ''Wèixīng Diànshì.'' It also introduced a new set of logos. The logo scheme of the Star network (the name of the channel next to the Star logo icon, contained within a rectangle with two opposite corners rounded) that had been used throughout 2007 (but it still used by [[Xing Kong]], [[ANTV]] and [[tvOne (Indonesian TV network)|tvOne]]'s news programs ''[[w:id:Kabar (acara televisi)|Kabar]]''<ref>[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9rubzAAvtMw&pp=ygUea29tcGlsYXNpIG9iYiBrYWJhciB0dm9uZSAyMDIz Kompilasi OBB Kabar News tvOne - New Look 2023]</ref> as of 2023). Static Design (a broadcasting design arm of Static 2358, now-defunct) designed the company and the seven channels' identities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-05-24 |title=Star beams with identity by Static |url=https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/24-may-2001/star-beams-with-identity-by-static/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=Design Week}}</ref> |
||
On New Year's Day (1 January) 2001 at midnight stroke, the company was rebranded from Star TV to '''Star''', reflecting the company's evolution from a television brand to a multi-service, multi-platform brand. In Chinese, the company referred itself as ''Xīngkōng Chuánméi'' ({{Lang-zh|t=星空傳媒|l=Star Media}}) instead of ''Wèixīng Diànshì'' from then on. It introduced a new set of logos. The logo scheme of the Star network (the name of the channel next to the Star logo icon, contained within a rectangle with two opposite corners rounded) that had been used throughout 2007 (but it still used by [[Xing Kong]], [[ANTV]] and [[tvOne (Indonesian TV network)|tvOne]]'s news programs ''[[w:id:Kabar (acara televisi)|Kabar]]''<ref>[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9rubzAAvtMw&pp=ygUea29tcGlsYXNpIG9iYiBrYWJhciB0dm9uZSAyMDIz Kompilasi OBB Kabar News tvOne - New Look 2023]</ref> as of 2023). Static Design (a broadcasting design arm of Static 2358, now-defunct) designed the company and the seven channels' identities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-05-24 |title=Star beams with identity by Static |url=https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/24-may-2001/star-beams-with-identity-by-static/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=Design Week}}</ref> |
|||
Star TV aired the high-definition programme ''Angel'' in 2006, in co-production with the Singaporean [[Mediacorp|Mediacorp Studios]]. The show was scheduled to have 40 episodes aired, and shot in [[Taiwan]]. The show was aired on [[Star Chinese Channel]] in Taiwan and via [[Mediacorp]] in Singapore, the Star TV handling distribution and sales in other countries. In addition, [[Star Chinese Movies]] had been announced that the channel has investment in three high-definition films, to be executive produced by [[Derek Yee|Derek Yee Tung-sing]]. Plus, the [[National Geographic (Asian TV channel)|National Geographic Channel]] involved up to 30% in one-thousand hours of high-definition programming commissioned in Asia (excluding Japan).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Frater |first=Patrick |date=2006-06-28 |title=Star TV shines on high-def 'Angel' |url=https://variety.com/2006/digital/asia/star-tv-shines-on-high-def-angel-1200336975/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> |
Star TV aired the high-definition programme ''Angel'' in 2006, in co-production with the Singaporean [[Mediacorp|Mediacorp Studios]]. The show was scheduled to have 40 episodes aired, and shot in [[Taiwan]]. The show was aired on [[Star Chinese Channel]] in Taiwan and via [[Mediacorp]] in Singapore, the Star TV handling distribution and sales in other countries. In addition, [[Star Chinese Movies]] had been announced that the channel has investment in three high-definition films, to be executive produced by [[Derek Yee|Derek Yee Tung-sing]]. Plus, the [[National Geographic (Asian TV channel)|National Geographic Channel]] involved up to 30% in one-thousand hours of high-definition programming commissioned in Asia (excluding Japan).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Frater |first=Patrick |date=2006-06-28 |title=Star TV shines on high-def 'Angel' |url=https://variety.com/2006/digital/asia/star-tv-shines-on-high-def-angel-1200336975/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> |
||
| Line 100: | Line 99: | ||
* The original Star TV company became Fox International Channels Asia Pacific, and would now focus on East and Southeast Asia. It also took over the representation of FIC channels from NGC Network Asia, LLC (the channels that were distributed by Star anyway). The company would continue to distribute its channels in the Middle East, and would take responsibility of the distribution of Star India and Star Greater China's channels in Asia outside their respective home markets. |
* The original Star TV company became Fox International Channels Asia Pacific, and would now focus on East and Southeast Asia. It also took over the representation of FIC channels from NGC Network Asia, LLC (the channels that were distributed by Star anyway). The company would continue to distribute its channels in the Middle East, and would take responsibility of the distribution of Star India and Star Greater China's channels in Asia outside their respective home markets. |
||
Despite the 2009 reorganisations, the company did not immediately change its legal name from Satellite Television Asian Region Limited |
Despite the 2009 reorganisations, the company did not immediately change its legal name from Satellite Television Asian Region Limited, waiting until September 2, 2014 to change its legal name to '''Fox International Channels Asia Pacific Limited''' ({{Lang-zh|t=福斯國際電視網有限公司|l=Fox International Television Network Limited.}}) |
||
In August 2010, it was announced that News Corporation would sell a controlling stake in its assets in mainland China to [[China Media Capital]] (CMC).<ref name="Reuters-10AUG09">Young, Doug "[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newscorp-china/news-corp-sells-controlling-stake-in-china-tv-channels-idUSTRE67810L20100809 News Corp sells controlling stake in China TV channels]" [[Reuters]] 9 August 2010</ref><ref name="AP-10AUG09">Chu, Karen "[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/news-corp-sells-chinese-language-26422 News Corp. sells Chinese-language channels to CMC]" [[Associated Press]] 9 August 2010 (via ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'')</ref><ref name="Variety-10AUG09">Coonan, Clifford "[https://variety.com/2010/biz/markets-festivals/china-media-capital-buys-star-china-1118022740/ China Media Capital buys Star China]" ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' 9 August 2010</ref> Xing Kong (both domestic and international versions) and Channel V Mainland China, plus Fortune Star film library were in the sale,<ref name="Reuters-10AUG09" /><ref name="AP-10AUG09" /><ref name="Variety-10AUG09" /> and a joint venture named [[Star China Media]] was created in the process. CMC acquired the remaining stake in Star China Media in January 2014.<ref>"[https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140102005296/en/Star-China%E2%80%99s-Management-Team-China-Media-Capital Star China's Management Team and China Media Capital to Acquire 21st Century Fox's Entire Stake in Star China TV Joint Venture]" [[21st Century Fox]] [[Business Wire]] 2 January 2014</ref><ref>Patnaik, Sampad "[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fox-divestment/21st-century-fox-sells-star-china-tv-stake-idUSBREA010CC20140102 21st Century Fox sells Star China TV stake]" [[Reuters]] 2 January 2014</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=William|first1=Christopher|title=Rupert Murdoch gives up on China with sale of Star China TV|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/10547453/Rupert-Murdoch-gives-up-on-China-with-sale-of-Star-China-TV.html|website=The Telegraph|publisher=Telegraph UK|access-date=20 July 2014}}</ref> |
In August 2010, it was announced that the News Corporation would sell a controlling stake in its assets in mainland China to [[China Media Capital]] (CMC).<ref name="Reuters-10AUG09">Young, Doug "[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newscorp-china/news-corp-sells-controlling-stake-in-china-tv-channels-idUSTRE67810L20100809 News Corp sells controlling stake in China TV channels]" [[Reuters]] 9 August 2010</ref><ref name="AP-10AUG09">Chu, Karen "[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/news-corp-sells-chinese-language-26422 News Corp. sells Chinese-language channels to CMC]" [[Associated Press]] 9 August 2010 (via ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'')</ref><ref name="Variety-10AUG09">Coonan, Clifford "[https://variety.com/2010/biz/markets-festivals/china-media-capital-buys-star-china-1118022740/ China Media Capital buys Star China]" ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' 9 August 2010</ref> Xing Kong (both domestic and international versions) and Channel V Mainland China, plus Fortune Star film library were in the sale,<ref name="Reuters-10AUG09" /><ref name="AP-10AUG09" /><ref name="Variety-10AUG09" /> and a joint venture named [[Star China Media]] was created in the process. CMC acquired the remaining stake in Star China Media in January 2014.<ref>"[https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140102005296/en/Star-China%E2%80%99s-Management-Team-China-Media-Capital Star China's Management Team and China Media Capital to Acquire 21st Century Fox's Entire Stake in Star China TV Joint Venture]" [[21st Century Fox]] [[Business Wire]] 2 January 2014</ref><ref>Patnaik, Sampad "[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fox-divestment/21st-century-fox-sells-star-china-tv-stake-idUSBREA010CC20140102 21st Century Fox sells Star China TV stake]" [[Reuters]] 2 January 2014</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=William|first1=Christopher|title=Rupert Murdoch gives up on China with sale of Star China TV|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/10547453/Rupert-Murdoch-gives-up-on-China-with-sale-of-Star-China-TV.html|website=The Telegraph|publisher=Telegraph UK|access-date=20 July 2014}}</ref> |
||
In June 2012, it was announced that News Corporation would buy [[ESPN International]]'s share in the joint venture ESPN Star Sports.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Szalai |first1=Georg |title=News Corp. to Buy Out ESPN's Stake in Asian TV Venture |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/news-corp-buy-espn-asia-stake-334177 |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=6 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Steel |first1=Emily |title=News Corp to take over ESPN Star Sports |url=https://www.ft.com/content/2d4428ce-affa-11e1-ad0b-00144feabdc0 |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=[[Financial Times]] |date=7 June 2012}}</ref> The versions of ESPN broadcast in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia were rebranded as Fox Sports on 28 January 2013,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Terrado |first1=Reuben |title=ESPN fades off in Asia as Fox takes over |url=https://www.spin.ph/multisport/espn-fades-off-in-asia-as-fox-sports-takes-over |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=Spin.ph |date=9 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Chan |first1=U-Gene |title=ESPN network to be renamed FOX Sports in Singapore, Asia |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/espn-network-to-be-renamed-fox-sports-in-singapore-asia |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=[[The Straits Times]] |date=24 January 2013}}</ref> and Star Sports became Fox Sports 2 on |
In June 2012, it was announced that the News Corporation would buy [[ESPN International]]'s share in the joint venture ESPN Star Sports.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Szalai |first1=Georg |title=News Corp. to Buy Out ESPN's Stake in Asian TV Venture |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/news-corp-buy-espn-asia-stake-334177 |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=6 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Steel |first1=Emily |title=News Corp to take over ESPN Star Sports |url=https://www.ft.com/content/2d4428ce-affa-11e1-ad0b-00144feabdc0 |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=[[Financial Times]] |date=7 June 2012}}</ref> The versions of ESPN broadcast in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia were rebranded as Fox Sports on 28 January 2013,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Terrado |first1=Reuben |title=ESPN fades off in Asia as Fox takes over |url=https://www.spin.ph/multisport/espn-fades-off-in-asia-as-fox-sports-takes-over |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=Spin.ph |date=9 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Chan |first1=U-Gene |title=ESPN network to be renamed FOX Sports in Singapore, Asia |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/espn-network-to-be-renamed-fox-sports-in-singapore-asia |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=[[The Straits Times]] |date=24 January 2013}}</ref> and Star Sports became Fox Sports 2 on August 15, 2014.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Christensen |first1=Nic |title=Fox to reorganises its sports channels |url=https://www.mumbrella.asia/2014/07/fox-reorganises-sports-channels |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=[[Mumbrella|Mumbrella Asia]] |date=4 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Valisno |first1=Jeffrey O. |title=Fox completes rebranding of sports channels |url=http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Arts&Leisure&title=fox-completes-rebranding-of-sports-channels&id=93364 |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=[[BusinessWorld]] |date=26 August 2014 |archive-date=8 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108201242/http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Arts&Leisure&title=fox-completes-rebranding-of-sports-channels&id=93364 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Fox Sports rebrand did not affect India and East Asia: In India, Star India took over ESPN Star Sports' Indian subsidiary,<ref>{{cite news |title=ESPN Star Sports to be under Star in India |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/espn-star-sports-to-be-under-star-in-india-113012800056_1.html |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=[[Business Standard]] |date=28 January 2013}}</ref> and kept the ESPN name until November 6, 2013, when [[Star Sports (Indian TV network)|all of Star India's sports channels were relaunched under the Star Sports brand]];<ref>{{cite news |last1=Engineer |first1=Tariq |title=As ESPN turns to Fox, expect more local Indian sports programming |url=https://www.firstpost.com/sports/as-espn-turns-to-fox-expect-more-local-indian-sports-programming-608585.html |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=[[Firstpost]] |date=31 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Star Sports: A new logo, packaging & brand identity |url=http://www.indiantelevision.com/mam/media-and-advertising/ad-campaigns/star-sports-a-new-logo-packaging-brand-identity |access-date=10 January 2019 |work=Indian Television |date=8 November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Star junks ESPN brand, launches Star Sports with 6 channels and website |url=http://www.mxmindia.com/2013/11/star-junks-espn-brand-launches-star-sports-with-6-channels-and-website/ |access-date=10 January 2019 |work=MxM |date=6 November 2013}}</ref> a [[Star Sports (East Asian TV channel)|version of Star Sports broadcast to mainland China and South Korea]] kept the brand, and instead, the version of ESPN for mainland China was renamed Star Sports 2 on January 1, 2014. |
||
In the wake of [[2011 News Corporation scandals]], the original News Corporation was split into [[21st Century Fox]] and the new [[News Corp]] on 28 June 2013, with the television businesses (which FIC Asia was a part of) going to 21st Century Fox. In October 2013, 12.15% of share in [[Phoenix Television]] held by 21st Century Fox (through Star) was sold to [[TPG Capital]] for HK$1.66 billion (about US$213.73 million).<ref>"[https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131018005627/en/TPG-Acquire-21st-Century-Fox%E2%80%99s-Stake-Phoenix TPG to Acquire 21st Century Fox's Stake in Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Limited]" (press release) [[TPG Capital]]; [[21st Century Fox]] [[Business Wire]] 18 October 2013</ref><ref>Tan, Clement "[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tpg-phoenix/tpg-pays-murdoch-unit-214-million-for-chinese-media-company-stake-idUSBRE99I01Z20131019 TPG pays Murdoch unit $214 million for Chinese media company stake]" [[Reuters]] 19 October 2013</ref><ref>Joshua, Fellman "[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-10-18/tpg-china-media-buys-remaining-fox-stake-in-phoenix-satellite-tv TPG China Media Buys Remaining Fox Stake in Phoenix Satellite TV]" [[Bloomberg L.P.]] 18 October 2013</ref><ref>Frater, Patrick "[https://variety.com/2013/biz/asia/21st-century-fox-sells-phoenix-stake-1200753463/ 21st Century Fox Sells Phoenix Stake]" ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' 22 October 2013</ref> This and 2014 sale of Star China Media marked 21st Century Fox's exit from Mandarin entertainment television market in mainland China. |
In the wake of the [[2011 News Corporation scandals]], the original News Corporation was split into [[21st Century Fox]] and the new [[News Corp]] on 28 June 2013, with the television businesses (which FIC Asia was a part of) going to 21st Century Fox. In October 2013, 12.15% of share in [[Phoenix Television]] held by 21st Century Fox (through Star) was sold to [[TPG Capital]] for HK$1.66 billion (about US$213.73 million).<ref>"[https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131018005627/en/TPG-Acquire-21st-Century-Fox%E2%80%99s-Stake-Phoenix TPG to Acquire 21st Century Fox's Stake in Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Limited]" (press release) [[TPG Capital]]; [[21st Century Fox]] [[Business Wire]] 18 October 2013</ref><ref>Tan, Clement "[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tpg-phoenix/tpg-pays-murdoch-unit-214-million-for-chinese-media-company-stake-idUSBRE99I01Z20131019 TPG pays Murdoch unit $214 million for Chinese media company stake]" [[Reuters]] 19 October 2013</ref><ref>Joshua, Fellman "[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-10-18/tpg-china-media-buys-remaining-fox-stake-in-phoenix-satellite-tv TPG China Media Buys Remaining Fox Stake in Phoenix Satellite TV]" [[Bloomberg L.P.]] 18 October 2013</ref><ref>Frater, Patrick "[https://variety.com/2013/biz/asia/21st-century-fox-sells-phoenix-stake-1200753463/ 21st Century Fox Sells Phoenix Stake]" ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' 22 October 2013</ref> This and 2014 sale of Star China Media marked 21st Century Fox's exit from Mandarin entertainment television market in mainland China. |
||
By 2014, [[Fox Networks Group Middle East|Fox International Channels Middle East]] took over the distribution of Star World, Star Movies, [[National Geographic]]-branded channels, Fox-branded channels, [[Channel V]] International, [[Baby TV]] and Sky News in the [[Middle East and North Africa]] from Star Select (now renamed Fox Networks Group Middle East, the Middle East business together with FNG Asia Pacific, still a part of the wider FNG Asia operations). |
By 2014, [[Fox Networks Group Middle East|Fox International Channels Middle East]] took over the distribution of Star World, Star Movies, [[National Geographic]]-branded channels, Fox-branded channels, [[Channel V]] International, [[Baby TV]] and Sky News in the [[Middle East and North Africa]] from Star Select (now renamed Fox Networks Group Middle East, the Middle East business together with FNG Asia Pacific, still a part of the wider FNG Asia operations). |
||
| Line 115: | Line 114: | ||
===Disney ownership and channel operations closure=== |
===Disney ownership and channel operations closure=== |
||
With the [[Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney|acquisition of 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets]] by [[The Walt Disney Company]], FNG Asia Pacific (including FNG Taiwan, and FNG's remaining businesses in mainland China), as well as Star India, became a part of Disney and FNG Asia were integrated into [[Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International]] (now [[List of assets owned by The Walt Disney Company#Disney International Content and Operations|Disney International Operations]] |
With the [[Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney|acquisition of 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets]] by [[The Walt Disney Company]], FNG Asia Pacific (including FNG Taiwan, and FNG's remaining businesses in mainland China), as well as Star India, became a part of Disney and FNG Asia were integrated into [[Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International]] (now [[List of assets owned by The Walt Disney Company#Disney International Content and Operations|Disney International Operations]].) Fox Networks Group Asia was split into three, as to plug into the Disney International structure with offices in Shanghai, Mumbai, and Singapore. The reconfiguration and layoff began on 29 June 2020 with layoff focused on FNG Asia's Hung Hom, Kowloon headquarters, which dates back to the 1993 acquisition by a 21st Century Fox predecessor of PCCW.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Frater|first1=Patrick|last2=Chow|first2=Vivienne|title=Redundancies at Disney in Hong Kong as Fox's Asia TV Operations Are Dispersed|url=https://variety.com/2020/biz/asia/redundancies-disney-hong-kong-fox-asia-tv-1234692840/|access-date=June 29, 2020|work=Variety|date=June 29, 2020|language=en}}</ref> |
||
The Walt Disney Company announced |
The Walt Disney Company announced the official closure of 18 of their linear pay TV channels on October 1, 2021, as Disney prioritized the rollout for [[Disney+]] across Asian territories (or [[Disney+ Hotstar]] for Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand). Those channels included [[Fox Sports (Asian TV network)|Fox Sports]], which broadcasted [[Formula 1]] and [[MotoGP]] along with all four major [[Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slams]] and most [[Ultimate Fighting Championship|UFC]] fights; and [[Fox Movies (Southeast Asian TV channel)|Fox Movies]], which also included [[Fox Action Movies]] and [[Fox Family Movies]].<ref name="SEAShutdownBundle">Multiple sources: |
||
*{{cite news|last=Frater|first=Patrick|date=April 27, 2021|title=Disney Slashes Linear TV in Asia With 18-Channel Closure, Shifts Focus to Disney Plus|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/asia/disney-closing-tv-channels-in-asia-1234961166/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921002441/https://variety.com/2021/tv/asia/disney-closing-tv-channels-in-asia-1234961166/|archive-date=September 21, 2021|access-date=September 21, 2021|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}} |
*{{cite news|last=Frater|first=Patrick|date=April 27, 2021|title=Disney Slashes Linear TV in Asia With 18-Channel Closure, Shifts Focus to Disney Plus|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/asia/disney-closing-tv-channels-in-asia-1234961166/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921002441/https://variety.com/2021/tv/asia/disney-closing-tv-channels-in-asia-1234961166/|archive-date=September 21, 2021|access-date=September 21, 2021|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}} |
||
*{{cite news|last=Kanter|first=Jake|date=April 27, 2021|title=Disney Closes 18 Asia TV Channels As It Shifts Focus To Disney+|url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/disney-closes-asia-tv-channels-1234744754|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921002426/https://deadline.com/2021/04/disney-closes-asia-tv-channels-1234744754/|archive-date=September 21, 2021|access-date=September 21, 2021|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}} |
*{{cite news|last=Kanter|first=Jake|date=April 27, 2021|title=Disney Closes 18 Asia TV Channels As It Shifts Focus To Disney+|url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/disney-closes-asia-tv-channels-1234744754|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921002426/https://deadline.com/2021/04/disney-closes-asia-tv-channels-1234744754/|archive-date=September 21, 2021|access-date=September 21, 2021|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}} |
||
*{{cite news|last=Lai|first=Adrian|date=April 29, 2021|title=Disney To Shut Down 18 Channels In Southeast Asia|url=https://sea.ign.com/walt-disney/171433/news/disney-to-shut-down-18-channels-in-southeast-asia|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921002411/https://sea.ign.com/walt-disney/171433/news/disney-to-shut-down-18-channels-in-southeast-asia|archive-date=September 21, 2021|access-date=September 21, 2021|website=[[IGN|IGN Southeast Asia]]}}</ref> |
*{{cite news|last=Lai|first=Adrian|date=April 29, 2021|title=Disney To Shut Down 18 Channels In Southeast Asia|url=https://sea.ign.com/walt-disney/171433/news/disney-to-shut-down-18-channels-in-southeast-asia|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921002411/https://sea.ign.com/walt-disney/171433/news/disney-to-shut-down-18-channels-in-southeast-asia|archive-date=September 21, 2021|access-date=September 21, 2021|website=[[IGN|IGN Southeast Asia]]}}</ref> This meant that the latest [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Walt Disney]], [[Marvel Studios|Marvel]], and [[20th Century Studios|20th Century]] films were not available for a period. |
||
Most of [[Fox Sports (Asian TV network)|Fox Sports Asia]] programming |
Most of [[Fox Sports (Asian TV network)|Fox Sports Asia]] programming headed elsewhere after the closure, such as on [[SPOTV]], which replaced the main Fox Sports channel on launch while also airing the remainder of the [[2021 MotoGP World Championship]].<ref>{{cite web|last=McCullagh|first=Kevin|date=September 17, 2021|title=Eclat to replace Fox Sports Asia with ‘lean and localised’ SPOTV|url=https://media.sportbusiness.com/2021/09/eclat-to-replace-fox-sports-asia-with-lean-and-localised-spotv/|website=SportBusiness|url-access=subscription|access-date=February 16, 2024}}</ref> After a while, the latest Walt Disney, Marvel and 20th Century films were released through Disney+ (or Disney+ Hotstar). General entertainment contents which aired on [[Fox (Asian TV channel)|Fox]] and [[Fox Life]] are either moved to Disney+ or, following the shutdown, through Fox's rival pay TV networks. |
||
Following the shutdown, some of their employees, including Singapore-based marketing leads Daniel Tan and Shoba Martin left the company.<ref name="DisneyEmployee">Multiple sources: |
|||
*{{cite news|last=Zaid|first=A'bidah|date=April 27, 2021|title=Disney Shutting Down 18 Cable Channels In Southeast Asia And Hong Kong From 1 October 2021|work=Geek Culture|url=https://geekculture.co/disney-shutting-down-18-cable-channels-in-southeast-asia-and-hong-kong-from-1-october-2021/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429110934/https://geekculture.co/disney-shutting-down-18-cable-channels-in-southeast-asia-and-hong-kong-from-1-october-2021/|archive-date=April 29, 2021|access-date=September 21, 2021|language=en}} |
*{{cite news|last=Zaid|first=A'bidah|date=April 27, 2021|title=Disney Shutting Down 18 Cable Channels In Southeast Asia And Hong Kong From 1 October 2021|work=Geek Culture|url=https://geekculture.co/disney-shutting-down-18-cable-channels-in-southeast-asia-and-hong-kong-from-1-october-2021/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429110934/https://geekculture.co/disney-shutting-down-18-cable-channels-in-southeast-asia-and-hong-kong-from-1-october-2021/|archive-date=April 29, 2021|access-date=September 21, 2021|language=en}} |
||
*{{cite news|last=King|first=Tom|date=April 27, 2021|title=Disney pulling plug on Asian sports channels in DTC pivot|work=SportsPro|url=https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/disney-fox-sports-hong-kong-southeast-asia-star-f1-tennis|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831045637/https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/disney-fox-sports-hong-kong-southeast-asia-star-f1-tennis|archive-date=August 31, 2021|access-date=September 21, 2021|language=en}}</ref> |
*{{cite news|last=King|first=Tom|date=April 27, 2021|title=Disney pulling plug on Asian sports channels in DTC pivot|work=SportsPro|url=https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/disney-fox-sports-hong-kong-southeast-asia-star-f1-tennis|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831045637/https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/disney-fox-sports-hong-kong-southeast-asia-star-f1-tennis|archive-date=August 31, 2021|access-date=September 21, 2021|language=en}}</ref> The decision to close the channels has been criticized due to poor Internet connectivity in some areas and the lack of a plan to rollout Disney+ for smaller regions. |
||
In Taiwan, Disney Channel officially closed on New Year's Day 2022 and Disney programming relocated to [[Disney+]] permanently.<ref>{{cite news|last=Strong|first=Matthew|date=August 27, 2021|title=Disney Channel ends after 26 years in Taiwan to make way for Disney+|work=[[Taiwan News]]|url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4277788|access-date=October 1, 2021|language=en}}</ref> Both Fox Movies and Fox rebranded themselves as [[Star Movies|Star Movies Gold]] (which, unlike Star Movies HD, has different movie lineups and using branding from the first incarnation) and [[Star World]] respectively.<ref>{{cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.-->|title=Fox Movies、Fox 全「星」更名STAR MOVIES GOLD、Star World|url=https://www.dngtw.tw/smithd/news_content.php?id=1782|website=StarMovies HD|access-date=14 December 2021|archive-date=14 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214110157/https://www.dngtw.tw/smithd/news_content.php?id=1782|url-status=dead}}</ref> This marked the only country with Disney channels operating under the Star brand alongside the existing [[Star Chinese Movies]] and [[Star Chinese Channel]]. |
|||
The remaining linear pay TV channels, including [[National Geographic (Asian TV channel)|National Geographic]], ceased their transmission on October 1, 2023 in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and (for [[National Geographic (South Korean TV channel)|National Geographic]]) South Korea with Taiwan to |
The remaining linear pay TV channels, including [[National Geographic (Asian TV channel)|National Geographic]], ceased their transmission on October 1, 2023 in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and (for [[National Geographic (South Korean TV channel)|National Geographic]]) South Korea, with Taiwan to follow suit on January 1, 2024.<ref>{{cite web|last=Frater|first=Patrick|title=Disney to Close Remaining Linear TV Channels in Southeast Asia and Korea|url=https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/disney-closing-tv-channels-southeast-asia-korea-1235643667/|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=June 14, 2023|access-date=June 23, 2023}}</ref> |
||
==Controversy== |
==Controversy== |
||
The [[BBC]] and Star TV originally signed a deal under which the Hong Kong operator would carry the BBC channel for 10 years.<ref name="UKIndy-93AUG08" /> |
The [[BBC]] and Star TV originally signed a deal under which the Hong Kong operator would carry the BBC channel for 10 years.<ref name="UKIndy-93AUG08" /> However, in March 1994, the BBC and Star TV reached a deal after an out-of-court settlement that would gradually drop [[BBC World Service Television]] from the satellite broadcaster's offerings. BBC WSTV would be dropped from the channel line-up for Northeast Asia by mid-April that year, but would be available in the rest of Asia until 31 March 1996.<ref name="UPI-94MAR22">"[https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/03/22/Murdochs-STAR-TV-to-drop-BBC/9394764312400/ Murdoch's Star TV to drop BBC]" UPI 22 March 1994</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Dawtrey|first=Adam|title=BBC, Star TV to split in parts of Asia|url=https://variety.com/1994/tv/news/bbc-star-tv-to-split-in-parts-of-asia-119420/|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=21 March 1994}}</ref> The deal came after demands from the government of the [[People's Republic of China]].<ref name="FAIRMockAward">{{cite web|last1=Cohen |first1=Jeff |last2=Solomon |first2=Norman |url=https://fair.org/media-beat-column/announcing-the-p-u-litzer-prizes-for-1994/ |title=Announcing The P.U.-litzer Prizes For 1994 |publisher=FAIR |date=14 December 1994 |access-date=29 June 2013}}</ref> |
||
It was alleged that the PRC government was unhappy with BBC coverage of China<ref name="FAIRMockAward"/> and Murdoch's September 1993 speech, which declared "(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" |
It was alleged that the PRC government was unhappy with BBC coverage of China<ref name="FAIRMockAward"/> and Murdoch's September 1993 speech, which 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."<ref name="FAIRMockAward"/><ref name="guardian.co.uk">{{cite web|last=Monbiot|first=George|title=The most potent weapon wielded by the empires of Murdoch and China|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/apr/22/chinathemedia.rupertmurdoch|website=[[The Guardian]]|date=28 April 2008}}</ref> The Beijing government threatened to block Star TV in the huge [[mainland China|mainland Chinese]] market if the BBC was not withdrawn.<ref name="FAIRMockAward"/> The former prime minister, [[Li Peng]], requested and obtained the ban of satellite dishes throughout the country.<ref name="guardian.co.uk"/> |
||
There were also reported concerns surrounding editorial control of BBC WSTV after News Corporation's acquisition of Star TV.<ref name="UKIndy-93AUG08" /> |
There were also reported concerns surrounding editorial control of BBC WSTV after News Corporation's acquisition of Star TV.<ref name="UKIndy-93AUG08" /> |
||
Revision as of 03:22, 18 July 2024
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Media Television Satellite television |
| Founded | 31 August 1990 |
| Founder | Richard Li |
| Defunct | 1 January 2024 |
| Successor | Disney Branded Television |
| Headquarters | 13/F One Harbourfront, 18 Tak Fung Street, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong |
Areas served | Asia-Pacific Middle East |
| Products | Pay television Direct-broadcast satellite |
| Services | Television channels |
| Owner | Hutchison Whampoa (1990–1993) News Corporation (1993–2013) 21st Century Fox (2013–2019) The Walt Disney Company (2019–2023) |
| Parent | Cheung Kong Holdings (1990–1993) Fox Networks Group (1993–2019) Disney Branded Television (2019–2023) |
| Subsidiaries |
|
Disney Networks Group Asia Pacific was a Hong Kong-based commercial broadcasting company operating multiple specialty television channels. The company was founded in 1991 by Hong Kong businessman Richard Li.
Originally established by Hutchison Whampoa and later acquired by the original News Corporation, Star TV was once the most prominent satellite television broadcaster in the entire Asia region. On 20 March 2019, following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets, Fox Networks Group Asia and Star India became a part of Disney, and Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific merged with the Disney Branded Television unit.
DNG Asia Pacific's channels were available in Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East.
History
Launch
The company was originally registered to the Companies Registry of Hong Kong as Quford Limited on 31 August 1990. The company was renamed Hutchvision Channel Services Limited on 31 January 1991 before becoming Satellite Television Asian Region Limited (Chinese: 衛星電視有限公司; lit. 'Satellite Television Limited') on 4 July 1991. It was established by Hutchison Whampoa and was headed by Richard Li (son of Li Ka-Shing, the founder of Cheung Kong which owns Hutchison Whampoa). Hutchvision's plan interfered in the development of Hong Kong's cable network, facing concerns that it would cause competition for both viewers and advertising from satellite and terrestrial networks. At the time, Wharf Holdings had a 28% stake, followed by Sun Hung Kai at 27%, Run Run Shaw's Shaw Brothers at 10% and US West and Belgium's Coditel at 25% each. As of September 1990, it had twelve transponders available on Asiasat-1, but there was the chance of ending the lease before 31 December.[1] In December 1990, it had set a new deadline to start its services -7 the end of 1991. The initial plan outlined "two or three" channels in its first phase, catering mainly to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand, and carrying music and sports. The Asiasat-1 beam enabled the channels to be picked up by a potential audience of 2.3 billion viewers.[2] There were talks of the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation holding shares in the company, with its main goal being delivering its programming abroad.[3][4]
The company operated its television channels under a unified brand, Star TV (Chinese: 衛星電視; pinyin: Wèixīng Diànshì; lit. 'Satellite Television'). The company's strategy was to target the top 5 percent of Asian elites who spoke English and had bought power to offer pan-Asian English programming.[5] In its initial years, the channels were broadcast over AsiaSat 1 communication satellite operated by Asia Satellite Telecommunications which was a consortium of Hutchison Whampoa, China International Trust and Investment Corporation and Cable & Wireless Worldwide and its digital electronic services was funded by Sony based in Tokyo.[citation needed] Hutchvision itself owned one third of AsiaSat and Star TV used ten out of the twenty-four transponders in the AsiaSat 1 satellite.[6]
As with the satellite's footprint, the channels reached from the Far East to the Middle East, broadcasting across 38 countries around the region.
Star TV's initial line-up of channels were: Star Sports, Star Music, Star News, Star Chinese and Star Entertainment; the last channel being subscription only.[6]
On 1 October 1992, Star TV added Zee TV (which targeted Hindi-speaking audiences) from Zee Telefilms in India to its line-up.
In 1993, Goldman Sachs became the exclusive advisor to Hutchison Whampoa Limited and the Li family in the largest merger to date.[7] In February 1993, Julian Mounter, former director-general of Television New Zealand, was appointed as president and Chief Executive of the company.[8][9] In March 1993, Star TV was offered to join ranks made by the Asia Business News.[10] By that year, the service's advertisement bookings were extensive. Julian Mounter — the chief executive and the president of HutchVision, stated that the company planned to launch the AsiaSat 2 satellite sometime in the subsequent two years, while starting their pay-TV services. Mounter also signed agreements with four companies, mostly programme suppliers, stating that the company would have as many as six channels operating by April 1994. He also said that the programmes would include more English and Chinese movie channels, a business channel, a children's channel, what was supposed to be a documentary channel, and another entertainment channel. With the launch of the new AsiaSat satellite, Star TV would have to be capable for broadcasting as many as one-hundred channels.[11] In June 1993, Star TV and Wharf Cable signed a deal in which Hong Kong's new cable television provider would carry Star TV's channels.[12] However, the deal was terminated in February 1994 in a dispute between the two parties.[13]
Sale to News Corporation
Star TV's viewership across Asia increased over the years and it attracted advertisers, but the business was making loss. The company was looking for an Anglophone partner for financial investments, additional English language programming and technical assistance, especially to launch a pay-television system that would carry encrypted channels.[14]
On 1 May 1993, Pearson approached Star TV's owners, and was expected to pay up to GBP 100 million.[14] Pearson (which owned minor stake in British broadcasters BSkyB and Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television at the time, and had just acquired Thames Television) was looking to expand its media business outside the UK, especially because the British laws at that time did not allow Pearson to expand more on UK television business.[15][16] Pearson was looking for 66% of the company, but the deal was reported to have required the Hong Kong side to remain active shareholders, causing the deal to be rejected. [15][16] The initial negotiations with Rupert Murdoch were reported to have foundered after the Australian businessman demanded a controlling stake in the Hong Kong company.[14] On same day, Murdoch's News Corporation purchased 63.6% of Star TV for US$525 million, half in cash, half in News Corporation's ordinary shares, blocking offers from Pearson. The deal came after News Corporation failed to acquire 22% of TVB because of regulatory issues.[17][18][19] News Corporation acquired the remaining 36.4% for US$299 million in July 1995.[20][21] Li family and Hutchison Whampoa would retain its shares in Hutchvision Hong Kong Limited, which uplinked Star TV's channels.[17][18][20][21] With the amount of money made from the 1993 sale, Richard Li went on to establish his own venture, Pacific Century Group.[22] It was later theorized by author Shiau Hong-chi wrote that Murdoch's purchase of Star TV was based on a theory of media globalization assuming that people across every nation and languages would watch the same TV programs with as little effort as possible with the original plan for Star TV being to broadcast popular American shows to Asian audience. However, the plan would deem unsuccessful with Star TV being forced to invest heavily on local branches to make local shows for the Asian audience.[23] On 1 August 1993, following News Corporation's takeover, Julian Mounter resigned as Chief Executive of the company. Sam Chisholm, who was the head of BSkyB at the time, became acting Chief Executive before he was formally appointed.[24][25][26]
In July 1993, Star TV was purchased by Rupert Murdoch for US$525 million. This was Murdoch's most important acquisition since the debt-restructuring crisis in 1990. He also bought Hutchvision, the parent company of Star TV.[27]
Star TV's line-up of channels as of 1993 were: MTV Asia, BBC World Service Television, a sports channel, an English-language entertainment channel and a Chinese-language entertainment channel. It also planned to launch a movie channel in Chinese and Hindi later in the year. [28] The Star TV network reached an estimate of 45 million people and was the only large satellite network to reach all of Asia.[27]
In January 1994, James Griffiths resigned as a managing director and Gary Davey took his place.[29] With the controversial removal of BBC World Service Television from the company's satellite television offerings for Northeast Asia in mid-April 1994 (discussed below), Star TV replaced the BBC channel with two channels; English-language film channel Star Movies and Chinese-language film channel Star Chinese Movies.[30] The decision about replacing WSTV with the movie channels were made while Star TV considering the launch of a documentary and educational channel that two companies had a joint-venture in them.[31]
In April 1994, Star TV had formed a three-year partnership with Asia Television, as Star TV struggled to be part of the Chinese-language programme battle with TVB. The joint-venture marked the beginning of the long-term cooperation for the programmes and for the co-productions. However, this agreement also superseded the previous program supply deal made in 1991 (with ATV being the part of the Chinese Channel's programming and Star was still being owned by the Li Ka-Shing family) that it were foundered due to the strike. Star TV also acquired one-thousand hours annually of prime-time dramas and special programming dubbed in Mandarin Chinese. ATV also provided dubbing and other facilities for the Star TV Network. The joint-venture also co-produced fewer than 40 hours of quality dramas per year, broadcast simultaneously with ATV showing the original programming in Cantonese in the British Hong Kong territory, and Star TV showing them in Mandarin Chinese. In addition, Star TV also operated the Chinese Channel in competition to TVB. Star TV also bought a library of more than 570 Chinese films from the Golden Harvest Group and had recently announced a deal of more than 50 films to be produced in the next three years by Media Asia Film.[32]
Star TV and Viacom (MTV) ended a partnership that supplied music television programming, so Star TV launched Channel V to replace the American brand. The Indian version was launched on 23 May 1994, followed by four additional versions: Channel V International, Channel V Thailand, Channel V Korea, Channel V Japan, and another three versions in Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese and Cantonese.[33] Star TV split its satellite signal to both northern and southern beams, resulting in a change for both operations. The northern beam included Prime Sports, Channel V, Star Plus, Star Movies and Star Chinese Channel, while the southern beam had Prime Sports, Channel V, Star Plus, BBC WSTV, Zee TV and Zee Cinema.[34] However, Star Sports' northern beam featured soccer and gymnastics, while the southern beam included cricket for Indian viewers.[35] However, after the purchase of a 49.9% interest of Zee TV in early-1994, the northern beam launched Zee News and Zee Cinema, which were Zee TV's sister channels.[36]
Star TV channels were rebroadcast terrestrially in Brunei as of late 1994.[37]
Star TV had proposed to expand to Malaysia in late 1994, with its spokesman stating that it would be "a place to do business" due to Malaysia's position as an important country in Asia. This would mark the end of a feud between Malaysian and British media. [38]
Star TV reached Indonesia in 1995 through an agreement with satellite provider Indovision. 15 channels were planned to launch in the second half of the year. [39]
The viewership share of Star TV in Taiwan in 1995 was at 42%, attributed to the launch of Star Movies which had many viewers in the country.[40]
On 30 March 1995, the satellite radio station Star Radio launched, with a Mandarin service for North Asia and English service for South Asia and the Middle East. [41]
In Summer 1995, Star TV considering the plans to launch at least thirty channels on the service when AsiaSat 2 was launched. The new channels let the Star TV Network to further customize its services for other regions and cultures.[42]
In early-1996, Star TV formed a third-party joint-venture as Phoenix Satellite Television Corporation, offering three channels on its service targeting China, with Phoenix Chinese Channel offering variety & entertainment, Star Sports and Phoenix Movies.[43] On 30 March 1996 at 7 pm Hong Kong Time, Star TV split into Star Plus and Star Chinese Channel by certain areas.[44]
In 1997, Star TV launched the Star Select package of television channels targeting the Middle East via the Orbit (now OSN) service. In 1998, Star TV and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer were in discussion to launch a new MGM movie channel in India. Rathikant Basu also stated that the company was considering to launch four new regional channels, including those in Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati and Punjabi.[45] In December 1998, the Star TV Network's channels were supposed to be removed on the Indovision service due to a bitter clash between the company and Indovision.[46] A court later upheld Star TV's decision to not sell its channels anywhere across Indonesia. During the same month, Star TV announced its partnership with Phoenix Satellite TV, and in cooperation with the European-based Chinese News and Entertainment, launched Phoenix Europe, a Mandarin-language channel that broadcasted entertainment and news from Phoenix Television's libraries to European audiences in August of the same year.[47]
In May 1999, Star TV migrated its services from AsiaSat 1 and 2 to AsiaSat 3S.[48] By late-1999 to the early-2000s, Star TV used AsiaSat 3S and Palapa C2 to broadcast across Asia and the Middle East in 53 countries with the audience reaching up to 300 million. Star Chinese Channel, Phoenix Chinese Channel, Star Plus, Star World, Channel V, ESPN, Star Sports, Star Movies, Phoenix Movies, Viva Cinema, Star News, Zee News, Zee Cinema, Zee TV, Fox News, Sky News and the National Geographic Channel were broadcast on the service at the time.[49] The Indian operations was estimated to account for 55% of Star TV's revenues in Asia at the time.[50] On 15 January 2000, Star TV added Disney Channel, as the company handling its distribution and ad sales for the channel, it marks the second partnership with The Walt Disney Company, which also owned ESPN. On 1 July 2000, Zee TV ended partnership with Star TV. The Hong Kong-based company converted Star Plus to a Hindi entertainment channel, and introduced Star World in the area as an English entertainment replacement. In 2000, Star TV inserted even more focus in the two markets, including China and India. In India, following the conversion of Star Plus into a Hindi general entertainment channel, it received success with the Indian Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and with several Hindi-language popular serials, surpassing their rivals — Zee TV and Sony Entertainment Television in ratings. On New Year's Day 2001, at midnight, the company was rebranded from Star TV to Star, reflecting the company's evolution from a television brand to a multi-service, multi-platform brand. In Chinese, the company referred itself as Xīngkōng Chuánméi (Chinese: 星空傳媒; lit. 'Star Media') instead of Wèixīng Diànshì. It also introduced a new set of logos. The logo scheme of the Star network (the name of the channel next to the Star logo icon, contained within a rectangle with two opposite corners rounded) that had been used throughout 2007 (but it still used by Xing Kong, ANTV and tvOne's news programs Kabar[51] as of 2023). Static Design (a broadcasting design arm of Static 2358, now-defunct) designed the company and the seven channels' identities.[52]
Star TV aired the high-definition programme Angel in 2006, in co-production with the Singaporean Mediacorp Studios. The show was scheduled to have 40 episodes aired, and shot in Taiwan. The show was aired on Star Chinese Channel in Taiwan and via Mediacorp in Singapore, the Star TV handling distribution and sales in other countries. In addition, Star Chinese Movies had been announced that the channel has investment in three high-definition films, to be executive produced by Derek Yee Tung-sing. Plus, the National Geographic Channel involved up to 30% in one-thousand hours of high-definition programming commissioned in Asia (excluding Japan).[53]
2009 restructure, refocus on East and Southeast Asia
On 19 August 2009, News Corporation announced a restructure of Star. Star India and Star Greater China would be separated from Star's headquarters in Hong Kong, and the heads of the former two companies would report directly to James Murdoch, News Corporation's then-Chairman and Chief Executive for Europe and Asia.[54][55][56]
- Star India took over all of Star's operations in India, as well as sales and distribution of Fox-branded channels in the region. It also took over Star's distribution offices in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United States.
- Star Greater China would oversee Star Chinese Channel, Star Chinese Movies, Star Chinese Movies 2, Xing Kong and Channel V Mainland China, as well as Fortune Star film library.
- The original Star TV company became Fox International Channels Asia Pacific, and would now focus on East and Southeast Asia. It also took over the representation of FIC channels from NGC Network Asia, LLC (the channels that were distributed by Star anyway). The company would continue to distribute its channels in the Middle East, and would take responsibility of the distribution of Star India and Star Greater China's channels in Asia outside their respective home markets.
Despite the 2009 reorganisations, the company did not immediately change its legal name from Satellite Television Asian Region Limited, waiting until September 2, 2014 to change its legal name to Fox International Channels Asia Pacific Limited (Chinese: 福斯國際電視網有限公司; lit. 'Fox International Television Network Limited.')
In August 2010, it was announced that the News Corporation would sell a controlling stake in its assets in mainland China to China Media Capital (CMC).[57][58][59] Xing Kong (both domestic and international versions) and Channel V Mainland China, plus Fortune Star film library were in the sale,[57][58][59] and a joint venture named Star China Media was created in the process. CMC acquired the remaining stake in Star China Media in January 2014.[60][61][62]
In June 2012, it was announced that the News Corporation would buy ESPN International's share in the joint venture ESPN Star Sports.[63][64] The versions of ESPN broadcast in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia were rebranded as Fox Sports on 28 January 2013,[65][66] and Star Sports became Fox Sports 2 on August 15, 2014.[67][68] The Fox Sports rebrand did not affect India and East Asia: In India, Star India took over ESPN Star Sports' Indian subsidiary,[69] and kept the ESPN name until November 6, 2013, when all of Star India's sports channels were relaunched under the Star Sports brand;[70][71][72] a version of Star Sports broadcast to mainland China and South Korea kept the brand, and instead, the version of ESPN for mainland China was renamed Star Sports 2 on January 1, 2014.
In the wake of the 2011 News Corporation scandals, the original News Corporation was split into 21st Century Fox and the new News Corp on 28 June 2013, with the television businesses (which FIC Asia was a part of) going to 21st Century Fox. In October 2013, 12.15% of share in Phoenix Television held by 21st Century Fox (through Star) was sold to TPG Capital for HK$1.66 billion (about US$213.73 million).[73][74][75][76] This and 2014 sale of Star China Media marked 21st Century Fox's exit from Mandarin entertainment television market in mainland China.
By 2014, Fox International Channels Middle East took over the distribution of Star World, Star Movies, National Geographic-branded channels, Fox-branded channels, Channel V International, Baby TV and Sky News in the Middle East and North Africa from Star Select (now renamed Fox Networks Group Middle East, the Middle East business together with FNG Asia Pacific, still a part of the wider FNG Asia operations).
In January 2016, the company's parent unit, Fox International Channels, was announced to be split into three divisions, which would see the heads of newly renamed Fox Networks Group Europe, Fox Networks Group Latin America and Fox Networks Group Asia all reporting to CEO Peter Rice and COO Randy Freer at Fox Networks Group in the United States, thus abolishing Fox International Channels as a separate unit from 21st Century Fox's television business in the U.S.[77] Accordingly, the company was officially launched new name and logo to becomes Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific Limited (Chinese: 福斯傳媒有限公司; lit. 'Fox Media Limited') on 29 February 2016.
On 5 December 2017, Star India's Chairman and CEO Uday Shankar was appointed as 21st Century Fox's president for Asia, and the President of Fox Networks Group Asia would report directly to Shankar (instead of the equivalent at FNG U.S.).[78]
Disney ownership and channel operations closure
With the acquisition of 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets by The Walt Disney Company, FNG Asia Pacific (including FNG Taiwan, and FNG's remaining businesses in mainland China), as well as Star India, became a part of Disney and FNG Asia were integrated into Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International (now Disney International Operations.) Fox Networks Group Asia was split into three, as to plug into the Disney International structure with offices in Shanghai, Mumbai, and Singapore. The reconfiguration and layoff began on 29 June 2020 with layoff focused on FNG Asia's Hung Hom, Kowloon headquarters, which dates back to the 1993 acquisition by a 21st Century Fox predecessor of PCCW.[79]
The Walt Disney Company announced the official closure of 18 of their linear pay TV channels on October 1, 2021, as Disney prioritized the rollout for Disney+ across Asian territories (or Disney+ Hotstar for Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand). Those channels included Fox Sports, which broadcasted Formula 1 and MotoGP along with all four major Grand Slams and most UFC fights; and Fox Movies, which also included Fox Action Movies and Fox Family Movies.[80] This meant that the latest Walt Disney, Marvel, and 20th Century films were not available for a period.
Most of Fox Sports Asia programming headed elsewhere after the closure, such as on SPOTV, which replaced the main Fox Sports channel on launch while also airing the remainder of the 2021 MotoGP World Championship.[81] After a while, the latest Walt Disney, Marvel and 20th Century films were released through Disney+ (or Disney+ Hotstar). General entertainment contents which aired on Fox and Fox Life are either moved to Disney+ or, following the shutdown, through Fox's rival pay TV networks.
Following the shutdown, some of their employees, including Singapore-based marketing leads Daniel Tan and Shoba Martin left the company.[82] The decision to close the channels has been criticized due to poor Internet connectivity in some areas and the lack of a plan to rollout Disney+ for smaller regions.
In Taiwan, Disney Channel officially closed on New Year's Day 2022 and Disney programming relocated to Disney+ permanently.[83] Both Fox Movies and Fox rebranded themselves as Star Movies Gold (which, unlike Star Movies HD, has different movie lineups and using branding from the first incarnation) and Star World respectively.[84] This marked the only country with Disney channels operating under the Star brand alongside the existing Star Chinese Movies and Star Chinese Channel.
The remaining linear pay TV channels, including National Geographic, ceased their transmission on October 1, 2023 in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and (for National Geographic) South Korea, with Taiwan to follow suit on January 1, 2024.[85]
Controversy
The BBC and Star TV originally signed a deal under which the Hong Kong operator would carry the BBC channel for 10 years.[26] However, in March 1994, the BBC and Star TV reached a deal after an out-of-court settlement that would gradually drop BBC World Service Television from the satellite broadcaster's offerings. BBC WSTV would be dropped from the channel line-up for Northeast Asia by mid-April that year, but would be available in the rest of Asia until 31 March 1996.[30][86] The deal came after demands from the government of the People's Republic of China.[87]
It was alleged that the PRC government was unhappy with BBC coverage of China[87] and Murdoch's September 1993 speech, which 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."[87][88] The Beijing government threatened to block Star TV in the huge mainland Chinese market if the BBC was not withdrawn.[87] The former prime minister, Li Peng, requested and obtained the ban of satellite dishes throughout the country.[88]
There were also reported concerns surrounding editorial control of BBC WSTV after News Corporation's acquisition of Star TV.[26]
The subsequent removal of the BBC channel and many ensuing declarations from Murdoch led critics to believe the businessman was striving to appease the Chinese government in order to have the ban lifted.[88] Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) gave Rupert Murdoch a mock award titled the "P.U.-Litzer Prize" for "Media Hypocrite of the Year" in 1994.[87]
In 2001, the BBC and CITVC signed a deal that would make BBC World available to "upmarket hotels, as well as guest houses and foreign apartments" in mainland China.[89]
See also
- Fox Networks Group
- Star China Media
- Disney Star
- Star (Disney+)
- Star+
- Fox Networks Group Middle East
- PCCW – part of Richard Li's Pacific Century Group, it operates Now TV, Viu and HK Television Entertainment
References
- ^ "Satellite squeezing HK's cable television project". The Business Times. 17 September 1990. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ "Hongkong satellite TV scheme sets end 1991 deadline". The Business Times. 22 December 1990. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ "SBC seeks partners". The Business Times. 19 April 1991. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ "SBC discusses tie-up with Li Ka-shing-linked satellite firm". The Business Times. 13 May 1991. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ Tanzar, A. (11 November 1991). "The Asian village". Forbes. p. 58.
- ^ a b "I saw the future — and it is in the dish". The Straits Times. 11 June 1991. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "1993: Goldman Sachs' Hong Kong Relationships Pave the Way for Largest Asia Media Merger". Goldman Sachs.
- ^ Ilott, Terry "Mounter: prez, Hutchvision" Variety 8 February 1993
- ^ Bulbeck, Pip (1 December 1998). "Mounter in The Saddle". Multichannel News International. Cahners. p. 5. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ Murphy, Kevin (8 April 1993). "Star Woos ABN for Asian Pay-TV". The New York Times.
- ^ Courtney, Christine (11 May 1993). "Media : A Star Rises in the East : Hong Kong-based Star Television, the first pan-Asian network, has seen astounding growth". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ "Wharf pacts with HutchVision" Variety 7 June 1993
- ^ "Star TV drops Wharf pact" Reuters 28 February 1994 via Variety
- ^ a b c Amoore, Topaz; Nisse, Jason (2 May 1993). "Pearson chases TV stake in Hong Kong". The Independent. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ a b Ipsen, Erik (28 July 1993). "Pearson Sheds Units to Focus More on Media". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ a b Dawtrey, Adam (28 July 1993). "Star-crossed Pearson rethinks". Variety. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ a b Tam, Luisa "News buys Star TV" South China Morning Post 27 July 1993 SCMP was owned by News Corporation at the time of announcement.
- ^ a b Palmer, Rhonda (27 July 1993). "Murdoch catches rising Star". Variety. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ Shenon, Philip (23 August 1993). "Star TV Extends Murdoch's Reach". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ a b Kennedy, Sean "Mogul takes all of Star" South China Morning Post 19 July 1995
- ^ a b "Murdoch Takes Over Star" Variety 24 July 1995
- ^ Courtney, Christine "Hong Kong Rich Kid Turns Asia on Its Headset : Media: Richard Li declines family job to found satellite-TV venture. Next goal is pan-Asian 'information exchange.'" Los Angeles Times 11 April 1994
- ^ Shiau, Hong-chi. Animating the cute, the mean and the beautiful: the production and consumption of animation: Taiwan's struggles in the age of globalization. Saarbrucken [Germany]: VDM, Verlag Dr. Muller. 2008. ISBN 9783639093971 OCLC 298596290
- ^ Palmer, Rhonda (4 August 1993). "Mounter dismounts Star TV". Variety. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ Hotten, Russell; Poole, Teresa (5 August 1993). "Mounter quits as StarTV chief". The Independent. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ a b c Nisse, Jason (8 August 1993). "BSkyB chief in move to Murdoch's Star TV". The Independent. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ a b "Murdoch's global TV ready for takeoff". The Straits Times. 27 August 1993. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "Star has major impact on Asia". The Straits Times. 27 August 1993. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ Murphy, Kevin (6 January 1994). "Star TV Said to Replace Its Chairman, Again". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Murdoch's Star TV to drop BBC" UPI 22 March 1994
- ^ Lippman, John (13 January 1994). "Troubled Star TV Sees Fast Growth in Asia". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ "Star TV inks 3-yr. Pact with Asia TV". Variety. 26 April 1994. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Mir Maqbool Alam Khan (9 December 1996). "CHANNEL V DON ATYEO: HONG KONG". Advertising Age. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ "A entertainment bazaar". Asiaweek. 19 May 1995. p. 37.
- ^ Engardio, P. "Star TV learns to think small". Business Week. p. 22.
- ^ Karp, J. (6 January 1994). "Second Front". Far Eastern Economic Review. p. 84.
- ^ "Labuan TV viewers complain of sex scenes". The Straits Times. 1 January 1995. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
- ^ "Star TV plans broadcasts to Malaysia". The Straits Times. 13 November 1994. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- ^ "Star TV seals Jakarta deal". The Straits Times. 15 March 1995. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "Star TV's Taiwan audience up 42pc". Business Times. 16 August 1994. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "Star radio to start". The Straits Times. 17 March 1995. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ Groves, Don (1 January 1995). "Star Tv To Launch 30 More Channels". Variety. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ "Star's Phoenix rises over China". Television Business International. p. 16.
- ^ Sullivan, Maureen (15 January 1997). "Asian TV team christens venture ESPN Star Sports". Variety. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ Mathur, Arti (24 September 1998). "Star TV India, MGM talk movie channel". Variety. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ Groves, Don (5 November 1998). "Sat spat showdown set for Star TV, Indovision". Variety. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ Groves, Don (15 July 1999). "Star wins in Jakarta court". Variety. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ Sullivan, Maureen (5 May 1999). "Star TV finds new satellite platform". Variety. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ "Corporate - The Star Vision". 8 April 2000. Archived from the original on 8 April 2000. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Jacob, R. (15 April 2002). "Star begins to shine as it reports a profit". Financial Times. p. 29.
- ^ Kompilasi OBB Kabar News tvOne - New Look 2023
- ^ "Star beams with identity by Static". Design Week. 24 May 2001. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (28 June 2006). "Star TV shines on high-def 'Angel'". Variety. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ "News Corporation Restructures Broadcast Businesses in Asia" (press release) News Corporation 18 August 2009 Archived from the original on 27 August 2009
- ^ Watkins, Mary; Li, Kenneth "News Corp announces Star TV shake-up" Financial Times 19 August 2009
- ^ Chu, Karen (18 August 2009). "News Corp. confirms Star TV breakup". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ a b Young, Doug "News Corp sells controlling stake in China TV channels" Reuters 9 August 2010
- ^ a b Chu, Karen "News Corp. sells Chinese-language channels to CMC" Associated Press 9 August 2010 (via The Hollywood Reporter)
- ^ a b Coonan, Clifford "China Media Capital buys Star China" Variety 9 August 2010
- ^ "Star China's Management Team and China Media Capital to Acquire 21st Century Fox's Entire Stake in Star China TV Joint Venture" 21st Century Fox Business Wire 2 January 2014
- ^ Patnaik, Sampad "21st Century Fox sells Star China TV stake" Reuters 2 January 2014
- ^ William, Christopher. "Rupert Murdoch gives up on China with sale of Star China TV". The Telegraph. Telegraph UK. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ Szalai, Georg (6 June 2012). "News Corp. to Buy Out ESPN's Stake in Asian TV Venture". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Steel, Emily (7 June 2012). "News Corp to take over ESPN Star Sports". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Terrado, Reuben (9 January 2013). "ESPN fades off in Asia as Fox takes over". Spin.ph. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Chan, U-Gene (24 January 2013). "ESPN network to be renamed FOX Sports in Singapore, Asia". The Straits Times. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Christensen, Nic (4 July 2014). "Fox to reorganises its sports channels". Mumbrella Asia. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Valisno, Jeffrey O. (26 August 2014). "Fox completes rebranding of sports channels". BusinessWorld. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "ESPN Star Sports to be under Star in India". Business Standard. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Engineer, Tariq (31 January 2013). "As ESPN turns to Fox, expect more local Indian sports programming". Firstpost. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "Star Sports: A new logo, packaging & brand identity". Indian Television. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ "Star junks ESPN brand, launches Star Sports with 6 channels and website". MxM. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ "TPG to Acquire 21st Century Fox's Stake in Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Limited" (press release) TPG Capital; 21st Century Fox Business Wire 18 October 2013
- ^ Tan, Clement "TPG pays Murdoch unit $214 million for Chinese media company stake" Reuters 19 October 2013
- ^ Joshua, Fellman "TPG China Media Buys Remaining Fox Stake in Phoenix Satellite TV" Bloomberg L.P. 18 October 2013
- ^ Frater, Patrick "21st Century Fox Sells Phoenix Stake" Variety 22 October 2013
- ^ Littleton, Cynthia (11 January 2016). "Fox Reorganizes International Channels Division, CEO Hernan Lopez to Exit". Variety. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (5 December 2017). "Uday Shankar to Head 21st Century Fox in Asia". Variety. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
- ^ Frater, Patrick; Chow, Vivienne (29 June 2020). "Redundancies at Disney in Hong Kong as Fox's Asia TV Operations Are Dispersed". Variety. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
- ^ Multiple sources:
- Frater, Patrick (27 April 2021). "Disney Slashes Linear TV in Asia With 18-Channel Closure, Shifts Focus to Disney Plus". Variety. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- Kanter, Jake (27 April 2021). "Disney Closes 18 Asia TV Channels As It Shifts Focus To Disney+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- Lai, Adrian (29 April 2021). "Disney To Shut Down 18 Channels In Southeast Asia". IGN Southeast Asia. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ McCullagh, Kevin (17 September 2021). "Eclat to replace Fox Sports Asia with 'lean and localised' SPOTV". SportBusiness. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ Multiple sources:
- Zaid, A'bidah (27 April 2021). "Disney Shutting Down 18 Cable Channels In Southeast Asia And Hong Kong From 1 October 2021". Geek Culture. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- King, Tom (27 April 2021). "Disney pulling plug on Asian sports channels in DTC pivot". SportsPro. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ Strong, Matthew (27 August 2021). "Disney Channel ends after 26 years in Taiwan to make way for Disney+". Taiwan News. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ "Fox Movies、Fox 全「星」更名STAR MOVIES GOLD、Star World". StarMovies HD. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (14 June 2023). "Disney to Close Remaining Linear TV Channels in Southeast Asia and Korea". Variety. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ Dawtrey, Adam (21 March 1994). "BBC, Star TV to split in parts of Asia". Variety.
- ^ a b c d e Cohen, Jeff; Solomon, Norman (14 December 1994). "Announcing The P.U.-litzer Prizes For 1994". FAIR. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ a b c Monbiot, George (28 April 2008). "The most potent weapon wielded by the empires of Murdoch and China". The Guardian.
- ^ "China lets in BBC TV". BBC News. 9 January 2001. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
External links
- Disney Networks Group in Taiwan
- Former official website of Star at the Wayback Machine (archive index): The startv.com domain is now owned by Star India.
- Fox Networks Group in Mainland China at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
- Star TV Archived 2017-06-19 at the Wayback Machine at the Museum of Broadcast Communications's Encyclopedia of Television
Categories:
- Direct broadcast satellite services
- Television in Singapore
- Broadcasting in Singapore
- Mass media in Singapore
- Mass media in Southeast Asia
- Mass media in Taiwan
- Television in Taiwan
- Broadcasting in Taiwan
- Defunct mass media in Hong Kong
- Mass media companies established in 1990
- Mass media companies disestablished in 2024
- Former News Corporation subsidiaries