News Broadcasting
Star Group launches Star Ventures to manage JVs
MUMBAI: In a significant development, the Star Group today announced the formation of a new division called Star Ventures to manage and maximise the value of the company’s increasing portfolio of joint ventures.
Based in Hong Kong, Star Ventures will be headed by the group’s senior vice-president May Oh.
Star Ventures will oversee Star’s joint venture partnerships. Star’s key partnerships include ESPN Star Sports, Phoenix Satellite Television, Star News, Balaji Telefilms, Hathway Cable, China Network Systems and India DTH (Space TV).
ESPN Star Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between ESPN Inc. and Star, with 13 sports channels across Asia. On the other hand, Star owns a 37.6 per cent stake in Phoenix, a Hong Kong-listed Mandarin television platform, offering five channels to the global Chinese community.
In India, Star owns 26 per cent of Media Content and Communications Services (MCCS), which broadcasts Star News. Apart from that the media conglomerate also owns a 26 per cent stake in Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms, which produces fiction based television shows in Hindi, Telegu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada.
Star has formed a 20:80 joint venture with the Tata Group to build the direct-to-home (DTH) digital television platform – Space TV, which is still waiting for clearance from the Indian information and broadcasting ministry. Star also owns a 26 per cent equity stake in India’s second largest multi-system operator (MSO) Hathway Cable.
In China, Star owns a 20 per cent equity stake in China Network Systems (Taiwan’s leading cable TV service provider), which is a joint venture between Star and the Koo’s Group.
Commenting on the new division, Star CEO Michelle Guthrie said, “In the past few years, Star’s network of partnerships has grown as we have expanded our business in Asia. These partnerships have contributed significantly to our overall development and I have no doubt Star Ventures will unlock more value to the mutual benefit of Star and our partners.”
Oh said, “Star’s strategic partnerships have enabled us to break new ground, increasing our reach and enhancing our content to consumers. I look forward to working even more closely with our partners to execute our joint vision and aligning our interests.”
Oh has been with Star for the last five years. Most recently, she was vice president of distribution, responsible for managing the distribution and marketing of Star’s channels in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and the Middle East.
Prior to that, she worked with China Network Systems where she oversaw the digitisation of the company’s cable systems in Taiwan. Prior to joining Star, Oh worked with FOXTEL, managing its business development and business analysis teams in Australia.
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI:Â Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
