Star Channel is a Greek

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

television channel that broadcasts a mix of foreign and Greek shows. It was launched in December 1993 and is owned by New Television S.A. (a company owned by Giannis Vardinogiannis). Star Channel is known in Greece mostly for its programming style, both in terms of live shows and news content, with an increased focus on lifestyle, showbiz, gossip, and fashion news, and on "comedic" presentation. In 2013, Star started combining information with entertainment, resulting in the channel's shift to a more serious tone. Star Channel generated

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

64 million in net profit in 2014 which represents a 32.2% increase from the previous year.

History

Star Channel was launched on 4 December 1993 to compete with Mega,

ANT1 Antenna, better known as ANT1, is a free-to-air television network airing in Greece. The alternate spelling is wordplay in Greek; ''ena'' (ένα) is the Greek number ''1'' (one), thus ''ANT1'' is pronounced the same as ''Antenna'' (Αντένν ...

Alpha TV Alpha TV is a Greece, Greek free-to-air channel, one of the biggest stations in Greece. The station features a mix of Greek and foreign shows with an emphasis on information. The studios are located in Kifissia and Pallini. Alpha TV is owned by A ...

and ERT Channels. It began broadcasting children's programs as well as foreign series. In 1994 – Star Channel began to exchange family/children's programs from Alpha, then known as Skai (Greek spelling of Sky) with Star's children's programming. Star Channel made its international debut in 2005, joining the UBI World TV platform, which made Star available to viewers in Australia as well as in Asia and Africa. UBI World TV launched in New Zealand in 2008 making Star International available there. In March 2011, Star Channel began showing some of its programs in 16:9 – mostly television series and films – and as of April, it switched to 16:9 for all its programming, including its own shows and news broadcasts. In March 2016, Star Channel started its pilot broadcast of STAR HD (1080i) through Digea in Attica and Central Macedonia on 27 February 2016.

Star International

Star International was launched in November 2005 and airs the "best of" Star Channel programming to Greeks in the Asia Pacific region, Africa and North America. Star International is currently available to viewers in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

through TV Plus; it operates on a 24-hour schedule. In October 2009, Star International officially launched in North America, available exclusively on RCN Cable in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

but in June 2010, RCN Cable dropped the channel due to the low number of subscriptions. In May 2011, Star International re-launched in the US and was made available via

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

on the Home2US platform. In late 2012, Home2US ceased operations. The channel is currently available in North America through IPTV provider Ellas TV. On 23 September 2014, Star International launched in Canada via

Bell Fibe TV Bell Fibe TV is an IPTV-based multichannel television service offered by Bell Canada, as part of fibre broadband services in parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba (as Bell MTS Fibe TV) and Atlantic Canada (as Bell Aliant F ...

. On 10 December 2020, Star International launched on

Bell Satellite TV Bell Satellite TV (; formerly known as Bell ExpressVu, Dish Network Canada and ExpressVu Dish Network and not to be confused with Bell's IPTV Bell Fibe TV, Fibe TV service) is the division of BCE Inc. that provides satellite television service a ...

, making the channel available across Canada.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1993 establishments in Greece Greek-language television stations Television channels and stations established in 1993 Television channels in Greece Television networks in Greece