Star China Media
Star China Media, also known as Star Holdings, is a Chinese media company owned by China Media Capital. The company operates television channels Xing Kong and Channel V Mainland China, and maintains Fortune Star film library.
Its businesses were previously a part of the original News Corporation's Star TV group of television channels in Hong Kong. China Media Capital took over a percentage of shares in them in 2010, and completed acquisition in 2014.
History
Founding
Star TV was founded in British Hong Kong in 1991 as a joint venture between Hutchison Whampoa and Li Ka-Shing. It was launched as a Pan-Asian beam-to-air Hollywood English-language entertainment channel for Asian audiences.1991–2009
In 1991, Star Greater China started with the first 5 channels included Prime Sports, Star Plus, BBC [World Service Television|BBC WSTV], MTV and Chinese Channel">PRC">Chinese Channel.In 1992, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation purchased 63.6% of Star Greater China for $525 million, followed by the purchase of the remaining 36.4% on 1 January 1993. Star broadcasting operations were run from Rupert Murdoch's Fox Broadcasting premises. Murdoch declared that:
In August 2009, the Star Group restructured its Asian broadcast businesses into three units – Star Greater China, Star India, and Fox International Channels Asia where Star Greater China was separated from its Hong Kong headquarters. Among the assets Star Greater China would oversaw included Xing Kong, Channel V Mainland China and Fortune Star film library.
Sale to CMC
In August 2010, it was announced that News Corporation would sell a controlling stake in its assets in mainland China to China Media Capital, which was headed by Li Ruigang. Xing Kong and Channel V Mainland China, plus Fortune Star film library were in the sale, and a joint venture named Star China Media was created in the process.In January 2014, the company's management team and CMC acquired the remaining stake from 21st Century Fox. This marked 21st Century Fox's exit from Mandarin entertainment television market in Mainland China.
In 2021, Star China Media launched an initial public offering as a publicly traded company, trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with the application being accepted on December 29, 2022, when it was trading on the stock exchange.