Come 5 February and a new corporate campaign is slated to break across Asia. That of rebranding Star TV as Star. The campaign covers a high-pitch run in newspapers and magazines and possibly the outdoors later.

Star TV Asia chairman and CEO James Murdoch explains in a letter mailed to senior industry professionals has explained why TV is being dropped from the brand identity. He says that the past 10 years have seen a satellite TV broadcaster evolve into a company with strengths in:
The new Star logo

*Content (19,000 hours of programming; seven languages, 300 million viewers in 53 countries)

*Distribution (partnerships with companies such as GigaMedia in Taiwan, Hathway in India - which should see enhanced television services and electronic programme guides being introduced in 2001).

*Radio (for once it has admitted that it is involved in FM broadcasting though through its media partner Mittal who is launching six FM stations in 2001. "We believe the commercial FM market in India is one the most promising new media sectors in the region," says Murdoch in the note.

*Internet (owned properties such as channelv.com, vindia.com, espnstar.com, partnerships with others such as netease.com, indya.com)

Murdoch adds that "by leveraging our brands, content, technology, local expertise and extensive infrastructure; and by forging important partnerships in key markets, we are actively creating the next generation of media connectivity in Asia. As STAR evolves from a television brand to a multi-service, multi-platform brand, we are evolving our identity from the media (i.e. from STAR TV) to the core of our brand, i.e. STAR."