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According to Star Group senior V-P Mani Rao, Rupert Murdoch's Asian
broadcast arm has identified four clear revenue stream going forward
- subscription, advertising, syndication and wireless.
In China in particular, utilising wireless has proved a strong
incremental revenue stream as well as helped build stronger links
to Star's community of viewers, says Rao. The high cell phone penetration
in China has been a big factor in its quick take-off no doubt.
Star Group V-P corporate affairs and publicity Jannie Poon outlined
to indiantelevision.com how well wireless has worked for Star in
China. It has been less than a year (June 2003) since launch, and
what Star China is doing is to leverage the exclusive and popular
content on its Mandarin language channels - general entertainment
Xing Kong and Channel [V].
The wireless services are of two kinds - subscription and non-subscription
based. And the numbers are impressive.
For the subscription based service, Star charges about $1 per month
per subscriber. Currently there are about 200,000 monthly subscription-based
members.
An example of how it works is the popular dating cum reality show
Love Factory. Subscribers to Love Factory wireless
services get love horoscopes, dating tips and dating games, among
other things as download options. They also get to be part of Love
Factory clubs in which members are hooked up through wireless.
An example of non-subscription based services was the Channel [V]
Chinese Music Awards, wherein Star received more than 2 million
SMS for voting of best songs, best female singer, etc of the year,
says Poon.
The potential of wireless is huge, says Rao. How it rolls out on
Star in India will of course be closely watched.
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