STAR, Jupiter Entertainment float JV

BANGALORE: STAR and Rajeev Chandrasekhar's Jupiter Entertainment Ventures (Jupiter Entertainment) announced the formation of a joint venture STAR Jupiter Entertainment Television (STAR Jupiter).

According to a release issued on Friday, STAR Jupiter will become the majority shareholder of Asianet Communications (ACL), which currently broadcasts channels in Kannada (Suvarna), Telugu (Sitara) and Malayalam (Asianet, Asianet Plus). Vijay, the Tamil language general entertainment channel currently operated and owned by STAR, will come under STAR Jupiter. 

"The current management team of ACL including vice chairman and managing director K Madhavan will continue in their roles under the joint venture. K Madhavan has built a talented creative team at ACL and established Asianet’s presence beyond India in the Middle-East, UK, US and South-East Asia. Under his stewardship over the past decade, ACL has delivered top-rated programs to audiences across the world," the release added.

Paul Aiello, chief executive officer, STAR, said: "This is a game-changing partnership for STAR.  It allows us to connect deeply with the rapidly growing South Indian audience by providing compelling television that truly resonates with the viewers there. By adding the South Indian channels to our extensive portfolio of Hindi and regional language channels, STAR takes a big step towards becoming a truly national broadcaster in India."

Rajeev Chandrasekhar said: "I am very excited at this joint venture and partnership, which will potentially transform the entertainment television business in India.  STAR has impressed me with its commitment to this market, to its consumers and to its partnership with Jupiter. I am sure that this joint venture will set new standards and become the pre-eminent provider of entertainment for customers and viewers in the four states of South India."

Uday Shankar, chief executive officer, STAR India, said: "South India represents the next big growth story for Indian television.  With this strategic partnership, we should be able to capture this growth opportunity and create a much bigger platform for creative talent that would offer the South Indian a lot more exciting content. The partnership also offers an exciting opportunity to those advertisers who are looking at nationwide reach vehicles and reinforce this with strong regional channels."