Star Chinese Channel () is a Taiwanese general entertainment television channel operated by The Walt Disney Company (Taiwan) Ltd. Its programming features drama, variety, lifestyle, and talk shows in
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
. Launched on 21 October 1991 at 16:30
Hong Kong Time
Hong Kong Time (abbreviation: HKT; ) is the time in Hong Kong, observed at UTC+08:00 all year round. The Hong Kong Observatory is the official timekeeper of the Hong Kong Time. It is indicated as Asia/Hong_Kong in the IANA time zone database.
...
by its predecessor Star TV, the channel originally targeted audiences in
Greater China broadcasting in both
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
and
Cantonese, before it reduced broadcasting area to just
Taiwan and began broadcasting only in Mandarin on 31 March 1996.
History
One of the first five original channels of Star TV, Star Chinese Channel was launched on 21 October 1991 at 16:30 Hong Kong Time as STAR TV Chinese Channel, the channel originally targeted audiences in Greater China broadcasting in both Mandarin and Cantonese. It is also the first commercial broadcasting-owned channel to broadcast in Taiwan. It was a free-to-air channel, but at some point, Star TV encrypted the channel. The channel was previously broadcast across Greater China, but on 30 March 1996 at 19:00 Hong Kong Time, Star TV split STAR TV Chinese Channel by certain areas and reduced its broadcasting area to just Taiwan (Viewers in Greater China apart from Taiwan were offered
Phoenix Chinese Channel instead). Star TV later launched a separate international feed of STAR TV Chinese Channel which is available in Southeast Asia.
At one point, the channel's operation was moved from
British Hong Kong
Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...
to
Taipei.
Shiau Hong-chi says that the original business for Star TV was to broadcast popular American shows to Taiwanese audience with as less effort as possible. Shiau then argues that however the plan was unsuccessful and Star TV had to invest on localized branches such as Chinese Channel and Channel V Taiwan and make local shows.
[Shiau, Hong-chi. ''Animating the cute, the mean and the beautiful: the production and consumption of animation: Taiwan's struggles in the age of globalization''. Saarbrucken ermany VDM, Verlag Dr. Muller. 2008. ]
Feeds
Taiwan
* Star Chinese Channel (衛視中文台)
* Star Entertainment Channel (星衛娛樂台): An alternative channel available on
CHT MOD and certain cable TV providers in Taiwan.
Hong Kong and Southeast Asia
A Southeast Asian feed launched in 2006 across Southeast Asia and 2012 in Hong Kong. The feed airs Star Chinese Channel original shows, and also broadcast variety shows from other television networks and Chinese dramas from the Greater China region (newly released dramas are only available through selected countries as it aired). The feed is currently available on certain TV providers in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
A version of Star Chinese Channel was also available in the New Zealand, United States and Canada, along with
Star Chinese Movies. But both channels have since ceased operation in the area Since 2018.
Malaysian feed of Star Chinese Channel closed on 1 February 2022 due to the launch of
Disney+ Hotstar
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
.
Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Europe Feed was yet to be launched. Although the space was open as
Star Life LatAm has closed in operation on March 31, 2022 along with
Disney XD,
Nat Geo Wild,
Nat Geo Kids
''National Geographic Kids'' (often nicknamed to ''Nat Geo Kids'') is a children's magazine published by the National Geographic Society. Its first issue was printed in September 1975 under the original title ''National Geographic World'' (whic ...
,
FXM and even the Brazilian version of
Disney Junior in order to expanding their operation on
Disney+ and
Star+, thereafter Star+ will be carrying some Asian contents to the platform.
References
External links
* (Taiwan)
{{Television in the Republic of China
Television stations in Taiwan
Television channels and stations established in 1991
1991 establishments in Taiwan
Fox Networks Group
Disney television networks