Mumbai, December 22, 2006: Star Movies, India's No. 1 English movie channel, cemented its leadership for the 5th year* and ended 2006 with a big bang!!! The channel is now all set to continue its undisputed leadership in 2007 with a power packed line-up of some of the best and the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. The month long (October 30th - November 30th, 2006), Absolute Bond Festival, catapulted the channel to new heights! Followed by this successful initiative, Star Movies kicked off Star Wars: The Complete Saga, on December 17th, 2006. This six-week property will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the franchise (1977-2007), with all six titles and the exclusive premiere of Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith on New Years Eve for the first time on Indian television!!!
"We are extremely delighted that Star Movies has continued its dominance in the English movie segment, in spite of the blackout in Mumbai. Properties like Absolute Bond, Lost- 2 and Star Wars: The Complete Saga have created an enormous amount of excitement amongst our viewers. We wish all our viewers a very Happy New Year and promise them non-stop, quality entertainment in the year ahead!", says Mr. Ajay Vidyasagar, EVP, Star India Pvt Ltd.
With the Absolute Bond Festival, Star Movies has shaken and stirred all competition. The channel witnessed a robust growth in all day channel shares. Not just this, Bond movies rated 250% higher than HBO in the 9 pm (Mon - Thu) slot! Star Movies sustained dominance despite the Mumbai blackout and was leading in 20 out of the 22 weeks since the beginning of the current fiscal 2006. The channel was leading consistently amongst its competitors, across primetime (7 p.m.- 12 59 a.m.) during the Absolute Bond festival! 19 out of the 20 movie titles from Week 44- week 48 belonged to Star Movies, out of which 16 were from the Bond collection.
Starting January, Star Movies is all set to deliver some power-packed punches with an exciting line-up of the BEST and the BIGGEST movies across genres from thriller and action to comedy and drama. Every Friday night at 9p.m., Star Movies will premiere critically acclaimed and box office heavy weights like Madagascar, Transporter 2, Cinderella Man and War of the Worlds, to name a few.
Every night in February leading up to the Oscars, Star Movies will showcase the most popular Oscar winning flicks followed by the telecast of the biggest movie event of the year- The 79th Annual Academy Awards - LIVE & Exclusive only on STAR Movies.
In August, Star Movies keeps its promise and brings back one of the most critically acclaimed mini series- LOST-SERIES 3. With an eclectic cast consisting of American, British and Indian stars, it is a show that redefined television viewing the world over. Promising more gripping drama, revealing more secrets about the island and its inhabitants, get set to be hooked all over again!!!
With all this and much more, Star Movies is jet set to continue the big Dhamaka!!!
So Come Home to Hollywood… Come Home to Star Movies.
About Star
STAR is a leading media and entertainment company in Asia. STAR broadcasts 60 television services in nine languages to more than 300 million viewers across 53 Asian countries. STAR channels cover all genres including general entertainment (Star Plus, Xing Kong, Star Chinese Channel, Star One, Star Utsav, Star World, Vijay, Phoenix Chinese), sports (ESPN, Star Sports), movies (Star Chinese Movies, Star Gold, Star Movies), music (Channel [V]), and news and current affairs (Star News, Star Ananda, Phoenix InfoNews Channel). STAR controls over 20,000 hours of Indian and Chinese programming and also owns the world's largest contemporary Chinese film library, with more than 600 titles, featuring superstars including Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat and Bruce Lee.
In partnership with leading companies in Asia, STAR businesses extend to filmed entertainment, television production, cable systems, direct-to-home services, terrestrial TV broadcasting, wireless and digital services. STAR is a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corporation. www.startv.com
For further information please contact:
In Mumbai
Zeenat Khan
Asst Vice President, Publicity
STAR (India) Ltd.
Tel No. 91-22-28523880
Shiraz Bhavnani / Aditi Chada
Vaishnavi Corporate Communications
Tel: 91-22-5656 8787
Fax: 91-22-5656 8788
Email:sbhavnani@vccpl.com / achada@vccpl.com
