Rumor: News Corp's Star to Withdraw from Mainland China
21st Century Business Herald, 4/09/08
A Star Group (China) insider has revealed that "all of Star Group (China)'s staff are to be let go, but its channels will continue to operate. It is not yet clear if a small number of advertising sales staff will be kept on. At the end of March the Hong Kong office said senior executives from the headquarters would make an important announcement in Shanghai. That's expected to be that mainland employees will be let go, with operations shifted back to Hong Kong." The company has already repeatedly cut back on staff and downsized its Chinese operations, with only thirty employees left in Shanghai. No programs have been produced on the mainland since Channel V last October, with all content provided by the Hong Kong operation.
Star Group (China) is headquartered in Shanghai and has sales, distribution, production and marketing departments. There are also branches in Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu.
Editor's note: An article appearing later today in Sohu IT said that Star Group has made an announcement asserting that the company will continue to strengthen development of its channels such as Xing Kong, Channel [V], Star Movies, ESPN, and Star Sports in mainland China. It claims that the article carried by 21st Century Business Herald has made "serious mistakes", and maintains the right to take any necessary legal steps.
Keywords: Star Group Xing Kong Star Movies Channel V ESPN Shanghai Star Sports television withdraw