DIRECTV Extends STAR Carriage

EL SEGUNDO/HONG KONG,
September 25: DIRECTV has signed a multi-year deal for continuing carriage of
STAR India PLUS, STAR ONE, STAR India NEWS and VIJAY in the U.S.

DIRECTV became STAR’s
first distribution partner in the U.S. when the four STAR channels debuted in
November 2004.

“Since their launch in
2004, STAR’s leading Indian channels have become household names among
DIRECTV’s South Asian subscribers,” said David Wisnia, STAR’s senior VP for distribution
and sales and head of STAR’s North American and European offices. “We are
excited to extend our relationship with our partners at DIRECTV and are
confident that viewers will continue to be captivated by the top-rated
comedies, drama series, reality shows and news programs that these top-rated
channels showcase on a daily basis.”

“DIRECTV is the premier
destination for the most current South Asian programming available in the
U.S.,” said John A. de Armas, VP of WorldDirect at DIRECTV. “By extending our
relationship with STAR, India’s leading programmer, we are enabling the U.S.
Indian community to continue to view the best entertainment, sports, news and
events programming from their home country.”

DIRECTV’s HindiDirect and
HindiDirect II programming packages are part of the WorldDirect programming
platform and are tailored toward Hindi-speaking audiences within the U.S. The
WorldDirect platform has launched 116 channels that deliver a variety of new
programming in multiple languages, including Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese,
Korean, Italian, Polish, Arabic, Portuguese and Greek, to ethnic markets
throughout the U.S.

—By Jackie Stewart