History
The company was launched in 1 August 1990 as part of Hutchison Whampoa group. It started broadcasting five television channels in 1 January 1991 from AsiaSat 1 Satellite. Launch of The STAR TV Network pioneered satellite television in Asia and in the process catalyzed explosive growth in the media industry across the entire region.
In 1993, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation purchased 63.6% of STAR for over $500 million, followed by the purchase of the remaining 36.4% in 1 January 1993. Murdoch declared that:
"(telecommunications) have proved an unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes everywhere ... satellite broadcasting makes it possible for information-hungry residents of many closed societies to bypass state-controlled television channels"After this, the former prime minister Li Peng requested and obtained the ban of satellite dishes throughout the country. Subsequently the STAR TV network dropped the BBC channels from its satellite offer. This, and many ensuing declaration from Murdoch, led critics to believe the businessman was striving to appease the Chinese government in order to have the ban lifted.
In August 2009, STAR Broadcasting Corporation revealed a restructure to its Asian broadcast businesses into four units - STAR India, Star Greater China, Star Select and Fox International Channels Asia.
Read more about this topic: STAR (Greater China)
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