Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Star Chinese Movies
Chinese language pay TV channel, 1994–2023 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Star Chinese Movies (Chinese: 衛視電影台) was a Chinese-language pay television channel owned by The Walt Disney Company (Taiwan) Limited The channel mainly broadcast Chinese-language films (including Chinese films, Cantonese films, Taiwanese films, Singaporean films, and Malaysian films), as well as bilingual Japanese films, Japanese animations (strip TV series and theatrical versions), Korean films, Thai films, etc., and digitally restored classic Hong Kong action films. At the time of the channel's expansion into Thailand and Indonesia, its owner, Fox International Channels, claimed that it was the most widely distributed Chinese-language entertainment channel.[1]
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (May 2024) |
Remove ads
History
Summarize
Perspective
It was launched on 1 May 1994 as Star Mandarin Movies as a replacement for BBC World Service Television.[2] At that time, it screened both Hollywood and Chinese-language films and was focused on a pan-Asian audience split into two television channels: Star Movies International (now Fox Movies) and Star Mandarin Movies (now Star Chinese Movies).
Their movies during the launch were acquired by Star Chinese Channel, which originally launched back in 1991. It shared the Western version for 2 years and aired Western movies at various times.
On 1 February 1996, the channel logo changed from a STAR wordmark to a box-type star logo, and it continued to air Western movies (the voice was English, French, or other European languages, but the subtitles were traditional Chinese) until 30 June 1998.
On 31 March 1996, both English and Chinese content were split from Star Movies. Star Chinese Movies was focused on Southeast Asia (including Taiwan), Hong Kong and Macau, and mainland China, and it was aired on several markets, including Astro (Malaysia), SKY PerfecTV! (Japan) and more providers.
It was launched in Malaysia on 1 June 1996.
The channel was previously broadcast across Malaysia on 31 August 1997 at 23:59 Malaysia Time and in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China on 28 August 1998 at 19:00 Hong Kong Time, Star TV split STAR Chinese Movies into certain areas and reduced its broadcasting area to just Taiwan (Viewers in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China were offered Phoenix Movies Channel instead and Malaysia were offered Astro AEC instead).
On 1 July 1998, the channel became a purely Chinese-language movie channel, dropping Western movies. On 1 April 1999, the channel had its first major logo change from vertical to horizontal, along with other STAR TV channels.
On 26 September 2003, Star Chinese Movies was launched on Now TV in Hong Kong. Later, a similar situation occurred in Singapore and the Philippines. On the same day, it relaunched localized feeds in Hong Kong and Macau (in Cantonese), Singapore (in Mandarin), Southeast Asia (in Mandarin), and Malaysia (Southeast Asian feed in Cantonese).
On 25 January 2008, a sister channel named Star Chinese Movies 2 was launched,[3] the HD and VOD channels were launched a few years later.
On 19 May 2012, the channel logo was changed from a star to a stylized crown.[4]
On 1 November 2013, the channel was expanded to more countries, including Thailand and Indonesia. On 1 September 2014, it was launched on HyppTV in Malaysia, bringing the channel back to Malaysia after 16 years.
On 29 April 2017, Star Chinese Movies provided bilingual services, and most of the movies were broadcast in Mandarin and original sound simultaneously.
In addition, they also obtained the pay TV broadcasting rights of the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards for Hong Kong, Macau and Southeast Asia (except Singapore and Malaysia, in which broadcasting rights were sold to their local broadcaster).
As Disney, which had previously brought FOX International Networks, decided to further enroll Disney+ across the Asian markets, they decided to cease their entire pay TV networks, including Star Chinese Movies. The channel ceased operation in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macau on 1 October 2023, while the Taiwanese feed (alongside its separated HD feed) closed down on 1 January 2024.[5] The channel's Taiwanese feed was later replaced by Catchplay Movie Channel following the closure.[6]
Remove ads
Feeds
Remove ads
Star Chinese Movies Legend
Star Chinese Movies Legend (Chinese: 衛視卡式台) (also known as SCM Legend) was a sister movie channel of Star Chinese Movies based in Singapore.[7] First launched on 25 January 2008[3] as Star Chinese Movies 2 (Chinese: 衛視電影2台), later rebranded on 1 October 2012[8] as Star Chinese Movies Legend. The channel broadcast British Hong Kong oldies historical heritage and colonial movies from 1 January 1970 to 31 December 1992. 23 Years was officially the main production company that took place by STAR TV Filmed Entertainment.
As Disney continued to expand Disney+ across Asian territories, they decided to shutting down many of their pay TV channels, which include Star Chinese Movies Legend, on October 1, 2021.[9]
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads