Star World (formerly known as Star Plus) is an

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to t ...

entertainment

television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, wit ...

originally launched on 15 December 1991 as Star Entertainment () by STAR TV in Hong Kong as the old iteration of

Star Plus StarPlus is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly ''Star India''), a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. The network's programming consists of family dramas, comedie ...

. On 30 March 1996, the channel was split into two, when the former became Star World in East and Southeast Asia part of STAR TV's rebranding, and the latter retained the Star Plus name in India and the Middle East. However, after Star (subsequently acquired by

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...

) ended its partnership with

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription bus ...

on 30 June 2000, Star Plus was transformed into a Hindi-language channel on 1 July 2000, with Star World being already introduced in the region as an English entertainment replacement. The channel's programming line-up mostly consists of entertainment television programmes from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and sometimes Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

to appeal to English-speaking locals as well as the expatriate population of

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

, the Middle East and North Africa,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

, and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

History

Star World was first launched on 15 December 1991 as Star Entertainment () with the very launching programme ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...

'' as very first programme. It was an

24-hour The modern 24-hour clock, popularly referred to in the United States as military time, is the convention of timekeeping in which the day runs from midnight to midnight and is divided into 24 hours. This is indicated by the hours (and minutes) pas ...

general entertainment channel showed dramas, movie and variety shows from the

, Australia and

, with

being the

Hindi language Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has bee ...

general entertainment channel counterpart operated the channel joint venture with Zee Telefilms which uplinked Hindi channel

from Hong Kong. The channel was broadcast across the continent of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

, reaching from the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The te ...

to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, as with AsiaSat 1's footprint. Star TV have since regionalised the channel to serve its huge viewerships. On 1 July 1992, Star Entertainment was officially renamed as Star Plus (). During the launch, Star Entertainment was backed by two major Hollywood conglomerate film studios and television production including 20th Century Studios (former 20th Century Fox) and

20th Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Com ...

(former 20th Century Television). On 1 May 1994, All movie backed by one major Hollywood conglomerate film studios including 20th Century Studios (former 20th Century Fox) was officially moved from Star Plus to Star Movies because due to Star Movies was officially opened. Star Plus continue to be an

general entertainment channel. On 30 March 1996, STAR TV split Star Plus' beam into two, in effect, providing two separate services for different regional audiences within STAR TV's footprint. This enabled the channel to provide appropriate programming and viewing time for viewers from different regions in Asia. Star Plus would serve viewers in India and the Middle East from then on, while the new Star World channel welcomed those in East and Southeast Asia. Star TV converted Star Plus into

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

entertainment channel with some English content programming. Earlier, STAR TV had a joint venture with Zee Telefilms which uplinked Hindi channel Zee TV from Hong Kong. But that partnership with that channel ended on 30 June 2000, resulted the new Star World channel as English entertainment replacement on 1 July 2000 for India and the Middle East. On 1 October 2017, Hong Kong and Southeast Asian version of Star World was rebranded to

Fox Life Fox Life is an international pay television network, launched by the Fox Networks Group in 2004. The network has been discontinued in several markets over time, except for the Middle East, Bulgaria, Portugal, the Balkans, India and Greece. The ...

. '' The Good Fight'' was the last program to air before re-brand ''(Bolt of Talent in Philippine feed)''. Star World brand remains in versions broadcast to the Middle East, Taiwan, India as well as other South Asian markets. On 1 February 2020, the Taiwanese version closed down and some programs are moved to

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

. However, two years later, on 1 January 2022, Fox Taiwan reverted back to Star World Taiwan.

Operating channels

Current channels

* Star World Taiwan - broadcast times NST; selected programs are not the same as the Asia feed, including local commercials * Star World India - broadcast times IND; this has different content from the other feeds; this is the only feed managed by

Star India Disney Star Private Limited is an Indian media conglomerate and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Disney Star network runs more than 70 TV channels in eight languages, rea ...

(not by

Fox Networks Group Fox Networks Group (FNG) is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company that oversees international television assets that were acquired from 21st Century Fox. It produces and distributes more than 300 entertainment, film, sports and factual chan ...

) * Star World HD India - same as the India feed except for the logo and commercial feed; launched on 15 April 2011; only available in India and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

Star World Premiere HD Star World Premiere HD was a 24-hour English language television channel, launched on 24 September 2013. It is owned by Disney Star and Disney Networks Group Asia Pacific, two subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company. The channel primarily airs p ...

- broadcast times IND; a premium channel launched on 26 September 2013 in India offering the latest seasons of the biggest shows in American television. * Star World HD Middle East & North Africa - broadcast times KSA, UAE; including Channel programs.

Former channels

* Star World Vietnam - broadcast times VN; selected programs are not the same as the Asia feed, including local commercials * Star World HD Asia - same as the Asia feed except for the logo and commercial feed; available in selected territories only * Star World Asia - broadcast times HKT/ SIN and JKT/ BKK; simulcast with the Middle East feed at 00:00 to 06:00 (HK/SIN) *

Star World Philippines Star World Philippines (stylized as StarWorld) was a 24-hour English language cable and satellite television network owned by STAR TV and Fox Networks Group, fully owned subsidiaries of 21st Century Fox. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus ...

- broadcast times PH; selected programs are not the same as Asia feed including local commercials and few of the local programs; a subsidiary of Fox Networks Group Philippines * Star World HD Philippines - same as the Philippines feed except for the logo and commercial feed; launched on 1 March 2012; a subsidiary of Fox Networks Group Philippines * Star World HD Vietnam - same as the Vietnam feed except for the logo and commercial feed

References

External links

Star World Taiwan websiteStar World MENA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Star World Television stations in Mumbai Television stations in Hong Kong Cable television in India Television channels and stations established in 1991 Women's interest channels English-language television stations Mass media in Southeast Asia Disney television networks