STAR Signs First U.S. Distribution Deal with Cox

Launches Three Indian Television Channels in Northern Virginia

By Larry Barrett -- Multichannel News, 9/2/2008 1:31:00 PM

Cox Communications and STAR, News Corp.’s Asia-wide satellite TV service, Tuesday announced the launch of three popular Indian television channels for digital cable subscribers in Northern Virginia.

Subscribers can now tune in to STAR India PLUS (Channel 275), the No. 1 entertainment channel in India for eight straight years, STAR ONE (Channel 274) and STAR India GOLD (Channel 276). STAR One is billed as the “next generation of Hindi entertainment” and STAR India GOLD is one of India’s top Bollywood movie channels.

The pact marks STAR’s first cable distribution deal in the U.S. and, according to Cox officials, boosts the cabler’s lineup of Indian content for viewers across Northern Virginia which has one of the largest South Asian populations in the country.

STAR operates more than 60 networks in 53 countries and 10 languages.

“The deal with Cox Communications, which operates one of the nation’s leading cable platforms, is an important one because it represents STAR’s first opportunity to reach out to cable viewers in the U.S.,” said David Wisnia, STAR’s senior vice president for distribution and sales, said in a statement. “Going forward, we are excited about the prospect of deepening our relationship with Cox to further the distribution of our top-notch channels to other areas throughout the country.”

Cox Communications, the nation’s third-largest cable operator, serves more than 6.2 million residential and commercial customers.