Entertainment - Asianet & Star to sign Joint Venture

Television broadcaster Star TV and Kerala-based broadcaster Asianet are signing a joint venture deal to launch regional channels. The move comes close on the heels of Star’s JV with Balaji to launch regional south Indian channels being called off today.
The proposed joint venture, which will be announced in a few weeks, will have Star with 51 per cent stake, while the rest will be with Asianet. Asianet’s entertainment channels Asianet Plus in Malayalam and Kannada channel Asianet Suvarna both will come under the venture. That apart the partners will launch a Telugu channel.
“Star is looking at leveraging Asianet’s strong regional presence and its distribution network which spreads across 60 countries,” said a source in Star India. A top-notch source in Asianet confirmed the development adding that the dotted line will be signed soon, now that the JV with Balaji has been terminated.
Star had formed a 51:49 joint venture with Balaji last year to set up general entertainment channels in South Indian languages. Under the agreement Balaji would produce exclusive content for the channels in Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam.
As of now, Star Vijay — in the Tamil language — is the only regional general entertainment channel Star operates as of now.
Rupert Murdoch promoter of Star during his recent visit to India had said that the company will invest around $100 million in six regional channels. The venture with Asianet will fuel Murdoch plan of expansion in the television broadcasting space in the country