Star Premium
Star Premium (formerly known as Fox+ and Fox Premium) was a multiplex suite of seven premium Latin American subscription television channels owned by The Walt Disney Company Latin America, that featured film and series content. The networks were programmed and distributed from Atlanta (they were not available in the United States).
 | |
| Broadcast area | Latin America |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia (programming/playout) |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English with subtitles in Spanish / Portuguese |
| Picture format | 480p (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company Latin America |
| History | |
| Launched | Latin America: June 1, 1997 Brazil: February 13, 2016 |
| Closed | February 1, 2022 |
| Replaced by | |
| Former names | Moviecity (1997–2014) Fox+ (2014–2016) Fox+ Premium (2016–2017) Fox Premium (2017–2021) |
It was launched on November 3, 2014, as a direct successor replacing Moviecity, founded on June 1, 1997, by LAPTV. In 2013 LAPTV was integrated into Fox International Channels Latin America and the channel package was renamed the following year as Fox+ and later as Fox Premium. The suite was renamed Star Premium on February 22, 2021,[1] as Disney de-emphasized use of the Fox brand.[2]
History
Before 2012, the Latin American Pay Television Service distributed the networks throughout Latin America, with name changes for the services coming in 2012. These included;
- CineCanal
- MovieCity (founded in 1997), became MovieCity Premieres
- CityMix (1997), became MovieCity Hollywood
- CityStars (2004), became MovieCity Classics
- CityVibe (2007), became MovieCity Action
- CityFamily (2009), became MovieCity Family
- CityMundo (2011), became MovieCity Mundo
The first five channels also were launched in high definition in 2012, along with video on demand and Internet streaming being added, though they lost Universal Pictures films after HBO gained the rights to their films. Fox Latin America purchased the CineCanal and MovieCity networks in 2009. LAPTV itself was integrated into FLA itself in 2013.
In 2014, Fox International Channels Latin America announced the re-branding of the MovieCity multiplex as Fox+, along with the streaming service Fox Play+.[3] Another network, Fox Comedy, was also established. In February 2016, the suite was launched in Brazil, along with MovieCity being rebranded as Fox 1 and MovieCity Action becoming Fox Action. The suite became simply Fox Premium on March 11, 2017, with Fox 1 again rebranded to Fox Premium Series.
On November 27, 2020, Disney announced that they would rebrand the Fox branded channels in Latin America to Star on 22 February 2021, as it pushed the Star branding from regional Asian use to worldwide outside of North America.[4] Though the rebranding of these networks would be short-lived, it saved Disney brand licensing fees to Fox Corporation for the continued use of the Fox trademark on active television networks.
With the changes made by Disney of the closure of 100 networks worldwide, including Latin America, in addition to the launch of Star+ in the region that took place on August 31, 2021, the channels were discontinued on January 31, 2022, as it merged Fox Sports-branded networks in South America into ESPN and would close several other networks at the end of March in the region.[5][6]
Channels
Spanish-speaking Latin America & Caribbean
- Star Hits: First-run movies and Hollywood films.
- Star Series: First-run series and new episodes for acclaimed series.
- Star Action: Action films, ring sports pay-per-view events, and select Formula 1 races.
- Star Cinema: Independent movies and Latin American and European films.
- Star Classics: Classic movies.
- Star Comedy: Comedy movies.
- Star Fun: Movies rated G or PG.
Brazil
- Star Hits (formerly Fox 1 & Fox Premium 1)
- Star Hits 2 (formerly Fox Action & Fox Premium 2)
References
- ""Star" será la nueva marca que define las propuestas de entretenimiento general de The Walt Disney Company en América Latina". Disney LA PressPack (in Spanish). December 17, 2020.
- "Todos nuestros canales arrancan el lunes 22 conservando sus contenidos y posiciones en las grillas" (in Spanish). February 17, 2021.
- "Fox lanza Fox+ el 3 de Noviembre". Prensario Internacional (in Spanish). September 22, 2014.
- "Disney Renaming Fox Channels in Latin America to Star | What's on Disney Plus". November 27, 2020.
- "Disney anuncia el fin de los canales Star Premium para el 31 de Enero de 2022". Pisapapeles (in Spanish). September 23, 2021.
- What's on Disney Plus: Disney To Close Star Premium Channels Across Latin America September 25, 2021.