 | |
| Broadcast area | Middle East and North Africa |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV 16:9) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company EMEA (Disney Entertainment) |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | 1 March 2024 |
| Former names | Fox Movies (2008–2024) |
Star Films (formerly known as Fox Movies) is a Middle Eastern pay television movie channel that was launched in 2008, as joint venture between News Corporation and Rotana Media Services. [1] [2]
On 1 May 2008, Fox Movies was launched by Fox International Channels and Rotana Media Services along with Fox Series channels in the Middle East market. [3] Fox then purchased a stake in Rotana, while the joint venture agreed with Disney to carry Disney and American Broadcasting Company content on the two channels for four years. [4] In early March 2010, Fox International Channels agreed to move its Middle East and North Africa market channels' operations from Hong Kong and other locations to an Abu Dhabi facility. [3]
On 1 March 2024, Fox Movies was rebranded as Star Films. [5]
Star World is an English language entertainment television channel originally launched on 15 December 1991 by Star TV in Hong Kong as the old iteration of Star Plus. Originally available in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, as well as India and South Asia, since 2024 it is only available in the Middle East and North Africa after the closure of the Indian and Taiwanese feeds.
Disney Networks Group Asia Pacific was a Hong Kong–based commercial broadcasting company operating multiple specialty television channels. The company was founded in 1991 by Hong Kong businessman Richard Li.
Channel [V] is a Chinese and former Asian pay television musical network originally launched by Star TV Hong Kong. It was part of the unit of Disney International Operations, and was launched in September 1991 to replace the first incarnation of MTV's Asian operation before it was shut down on October 1, 2021.
MBC Group, formerly known as Middle East Broadcasting Center, is a Saudi media conglomerate based in the Middle East and North Africa region. Launched in London in 1991, the company moved its headquarters to Dubai in 2002 and to Riyadh in 2022. It is majority owned by the Saudi government-operated Public Investment Fund.
The BBC is forbidden under its charter to directly undertake any commercial operations on-air within the United Kingdom; however, no such restriction applies to operations in other countries. Therefore, the BBC exploits its massive television archive by operating a number of commercial television channels outside the UK through its BBC Studios subsidiary.
Star Movies is an Asian-based pay television channel owned by Disney Entertainment. Star Movies was originally launched in 1994 as a single channel broadcast across Asia, but it has regionalized into different localized channels since then. Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific have since rebranded some of the network's international feeds in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia as Fox Movies, but retains the Star Movies brand in the Middle East & South Asia.
Orbit Communications Company was a privately owned Pay TV network, operating in Bahrain. Owned by Saudi Arabia–based Mawarid Holding, it was the first fully digital, multi-channel, multi-lingual, pay television service in the Middle East and North Africa and was also the world's first fully end to end digital TV network. Launched in 1994, it was originally situated in Tor Sapienza, Rome, Italy as the location was considered entirely suitable to build a satellite farm. Orbit employed around 600 employees who were largely a combination of British and Italian staff with several Arabic speaking nations also represented. Orbit broadcast in several languages around the world including English, Arabic, French and Filipino.
Fox Networks Group (FNG), formerly known as Fox International Channels (FIC), was the television networks division of News Corporation and later 21st Century Fox that operated from 1993 to 2021. It oversaw the production, broadcasting and distribution of the Fox, Fox Sports, National Geographic and BabyTV brands in the United States and over 1.725 billion households globally. The division also operated video on demand services Fox Play and Fox Plus.
Abu Dhabi Media Network is the official media organization of the Government of Abu Dhabi. The organization was established in 2007.
Rotana Hotel Management Corporation PJSC is a hotel management company in the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans and Turkey. It has a portfolio of over 100 properties in 26 cities and operates six sub brands which include Rotana Hotels & Resorts, Centro Hotels by Rotana, Rayhaan Hotels & Resorts by Rotana, Arjaan Hotel Apartments by Rotana, Edge by Rotana and The Residences by Rotana.
Asianet is an Indian Malayalam language general entertainment pay television channel operated by Disney Star, a subsidiary of Disney India. It primarily telecasts programmes such as serials, reality shows and Malayalam films. Asianet HD is the first High Definition (HD) television channel in Malayalam.
Fox Movies was an international brand of movie channels owned by Fox Networks Group, a part of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International. The channel was launched on February 8, 2007.
Sky News Arabia is an Arabic 24-hour rolling news channel broadcast mainly operated in the Middle East and North Africa. It is a joint venture between UK-based Sky Group and the UAE-based International Media Investments (IMI) corporation. IMI is controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, which is ruled by his brother, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Star Sports Network is a group of Indian pay television sports channels owned by JioStar, that is a joint venture between Reliance Industries through its subsidiary Viacom18 and Disney India. that was formed in November 2024. The network currently holds rights of flagship tournaments like Indian Premier League, ICC Events, Premier League, ONE Championship, Wimbledon, Nepal Premier League etc.
National Geographic Global Networks is a business unit within National Geographic Partners and Disney Entertainment that oversees the National Geographic-branded television channels and National Geographic Studios.
Shahid is an Arabic content-streaming platform operated by the Saudi state-owned MBC Group.
Star Channels is a multiplex suite of premium Middle Eastern and North African subscription television channels owned by The Walt Disney Company EMEA. Its programming consisted mostly of non-dubbed movies and series with Arabic subtitles.