Star to buy majority in Asianet

STAR and Jupiter Entertainment form South Indian General Entertainment Television Joint Venture

The STAR Jupiter Joint Venture to have majority interest in leading Malayalam channels Asianet and Asianet Plus, Kannada channel Suvarna, Telugu Channel Sitara and to own Tamil channel Vijay as well as any future general entertainment channels for South Indian audience. Asia’s leading media and entertainment company, and Jupiter Entertainment Ventures (Jupiter Entertainment), Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s media and entertainment development company, today announced the formation of STAR Jupiter Entertainment Television Limited , a joint venture aimed at enhancing the television viewing experience of South Indian audiences.

Asianet Sold to Star Network

Under the agreement and subject to regulatory approvals, Star Jupiter will become the majority shareholder of Asianet Communications Limited (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 now come under this.

About Asianet

The Joint Venture is expected to make additional investments towards developing and launching new channels in South India in the coming months. 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.