Fox (Asian TV channel)

Asian TV channel

Fox was a Asian pay television channel. It was owned and operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a compsny owned by Disney International Operations.

Fox Asia
Broadcast areaEast Asia
HeadquartersHong Kong
Singapore
Mumbai
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to 16:9 480i/576i for the SDTV feed)
Ownership
OwnerFox Networks Group Asia Pacific
(Disney International Operations)
History
LaunchedFebruary 1998 (Japan)
December 2009 (India)
June 2010 (Malaysia)
November 2014 (Vietnam)
Closed16 November 2014 (SD feed, Malaysia)
1 January 2021; 3 years ago (2021-01-01) (South Korea)
March 9, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-03-09) (Starhub TV)
May 1, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-05-01) (SD feed, Vietnam)
September 1, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-09-01) (Now TV feed, Hong Kong)
October 1, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-10-01) (Southeast Asia and Hong Kong)[1]
1 January 2022; 2 years ago (2022-01-01) (Taiwan)
Replaced byStar World (Taiwan)
Availability

The network operated six subnetworks. All of them were named as Fox. It had one feed for East Asia and individual feeds for Japan, Thailand, The Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. All of the networks had programming with the original English audio along with either subtitling or second audio feeds in each nation's main language. It also had a deal with Tcast until the end of 2020 for a version of Fox in South Korea.

History

change

In Japan, the channel launched in February 1998. Other Fox channels such as Fox Crime and Fox Life (now FOX bs238) also launched at that time.

In Asia, the channel began testing in December 2009. It broadcast US TV series on loop. The first Asian provider who carried Fox was SkyCable. This was in the Philippines. It launched the channel on 4 January 2010. Next was StarHub TV in Singapore on 1 February 2010. [2]

Fox Taiwan was officially launched on 1 September 2012, as FOX Showbiz (Chinese: 娛樂台). It replaced Channel V Taiwan. They broadcast Asian programming and some of American series reruns with Chinese subtitles. The feed was renamed Fox in January 2014 and broadcast both local and foreign programmes.

In 2020, Tcast announced that it had ended its license agreement with Disney's domestic division. It changed the name of its channels after 31 December 2020. Fox in South Korea then became Ch.NOW (채널 나우).

On 31 August 2021, the Fox Networks Group channels ended operations in Hong Kong.[3] The entire group of Fox networks in Asia ended operations on 30 September 2021. This did not include networks in Taiwan and Japan. Its content transferred to Disney+ and Hotstar.[4]

On 1 January 2022, Fox Taiwan was renamed to Star World. This marked the return of Star World in Taiwan.[5][6]

References

change
  1. Multiple sources:
    • Frater, Patrick (27 April 2021). "Disney Slashes Linear TV in Asia With 18-Channel Closure, Shifts Focus to Disney Plus". Variety. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
    • Kanter, Jake (27 April 2021). "Disney Closes 18 Asia TV Channels As It Shifts Focus To Disney+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
    • Lai, Adrian (29 April 2021). "Disney To Shut Down 18 Channels In Southeast Asia". IGN. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  2. Christmas kick-off for FOX roll-out Archived 2 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine retrieved via onscreenasia.com 1-18-2009
  3. King, Tom (2021-04-27). "Disney pulling plug on Asian sports channels in DTC pivot". SportsPro. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  4. Middleton, Richard (2021-04-28). "Disney to close 18 channels in Asia as streaming focus expands". Digital TV Europe. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  5. "國家地理旗下頻道商改迪士尼及頻道更名". 中華電信 MOD (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  6. Micekiin, 茂思奇異科技行銷. "FOX MOVIES、FOX全「星」更名STAR MOVIES GOLD、Star World STAR MOVIES GOLD網羅迪士尼獨家片單 各式英雄首播大片陪你過年 Star World閃亮回歸 獨家呈現西洋美劇娛樂、頂級亞洲戲劇綜藝". StarMovie HD. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.

Other websites

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Archived 2010-05-28 at the Wayback Machine
Archived 2010-05-22 at the Wayback Machine