Star and Jupiter Entertainment have formed the Star Jupiter Entertainment Television Limited (Star Jupiter), a joint venture aimed at enhancing the television viewing experience of South Indian audiences.

Under the agreement, 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 Star Jupiter.

The JV 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.

“This is a game changing partnership for Star.  It allows us to connect deeply with the rapidly growing South Indian audience by providing compelling television that truly resonates with the viewers there.  And by adding the South Indian channels to our extensive portfolio of Hindi and regional language channels, Star takes a big step towards becoming a truly national broadcaster in India,” stated Paul Aiello, CEO of Star.

“I am very excited at this joint venture and partnership, which will potentially transform the entertainment television business in India.  Star has impressed me with its commitment to this market, to its consumers and to its partnership with Jupiter. I am sure that this Joint Venture will set new standards and become the pre-eminent provider of entertainment for customers and viewers in the four states of South India,” added Rajeev Chandrasekhar, founder Jupiter Entertainment.

“South India represents the next big growth story for Indian television.  With this strategic partnership, we should be able to capture this growth opportunity and create a much bigger platform for creative talent that would offer the South Indian a lot more exciting content. The partnership also offers an exciting opportunity to those advertisers who are looking at nationwide reach vehicles and reinforce this with strong regional channels,' added Uday Shankar, CEO of Star India.

Star and Jupiter are also exploring a wide range of new areas of cooperation including film co-production by Fox Star Studios India and Indigo Movies, Jupiter Entertainment’s movie production arm.-TradeArabia News Service