Star wins nod for new Chinese channel


James Murdoch, left, signs the Star TV deal with Chinese officials in Beijing Wednesday

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Pan-Asian broadcaster Star Television will launch a new 24-hour Chinese-language channel in China's Guangdong province in early 2002.

Star, part of the Rupert Murdoch-controlled News Corp, won approval for Chinese access under a reciprocal deal that will see news and current affairs programs from China carried on U.S. television stations.

Star said it is the first time China has granted cable carriage rights to a new foreign channel.

Murdoch's second son and Star chairman James Murdoch signed the deal in Beijing Wednesday after meeting Politburo member Ding Guangen, minister of the publicity department of the Chinese Communist Party's central committee.

Ding called the agreement "a good start" towards further cooperation.

The deal is between Star, China Central Television (CCTV), China International Television Corp and Guangdong Cable TV Networks.

Entertainment program into Guangdong

Star will distribute its new Mandarin-language general entertainment channel to cable systems in Guangdong from early 2002, while CCTV's English-language channel will be carried on systems in the U.S.

The U.S. distribution will be arranged by News Corp's Fox Cable Networks.

Star already has seven channels broadcasting into China, including Star Chinese, Star Sports, ESPN Sports, Channel V, National Geographic, Phoenix Chinese and Phoenix Movies.

The new general entertainment channel will carry variety programs, game shows, dramas and comedies, but no news programs.

James Murdoch called the deal a "milestone" for Star's development in China.

Star, which claims to reach more than 300 million viewers across Asia, has had a presence in China for 10 years.

The broadcaster was established in 1990 by junior Hong Kong tycoon and Pacific Century CyberWorks founder Richard Li, who sold out to Rupert Murdoch in two stages in 1993 and 1995.

But Murdoch has had a bumpy ride with the acquisition, which has struggled to break even. He also fell foul of the Chinese government for a while in the mid-1990s when he declared satellite broadcasters represented an "unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes everywhere".

Guangdong province is one of the most affluent parts of China and adjoins Hong Kong, which means most of its population can already watch Hong Kong television channels.

AOL Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, recently struck a similar reciprocal access arrangement with the Chinese government.