History

Founded in 1988, StarTimes Group is a Chinese multinational media company headquartered in Beijing. After many years in development, StarTimes has become a major System Integrator, Technology Provider, Network Operator, and Content Provider in African television broadcasting industry.

Since 2008 when StarTimes started operation in African market, the company has been sparing no effort to realize its ambitious mission: "To ensure that every African family can access, afford, watch and share the beauty of digital TV".

Today, as the leading digital-TV operator in Africa, StarTimes is 13 million DVB subscribers and 27 million OTT users, and covering whole of the continent's population with a massive distribution network. It has established subsidiaries in 30+ African countries.

StarTimes now is the only brand who is simultaneously running DTT, DTH and OTT businesses in African market, and the only company who is engaged in B2B and B2C business at the same time. StarTimes aims to become a media group with international influence.

StarTimes is assisting to ensure that the African continent and media development progresses to the next level in digital television broadcasting. StarTimes is the key partner to Africa in her effort to migrate from analogue to digital.

Technology and Products

StarTimes has established an enormous network system which is able to provide service to tens of millions of subscribers. With 4 major signal transmission platforms, a signal-relay satellite platform, a Direct-to-Home satellite TV platform (DTH), a digital terrestrial TV platform (DTT) and an Over-the-Top platform (OTT), StarTimes has made its signal available throughout the African continent, European continent and part of Asian continent.

Direct-broadcast satellite television, also known as DTH, is delivering television programming using signals relayed from space radio stations (e.g. DVB satellites). In DTH systems, signals are relayed from a direct broadcast satellite on the wavelength and are completely digital. Some transmissions and channels are unencrypted and therefore free-to-air or free-to-view, while many other channels are transmitted with encryption (pay television), requiring a subscription.

DTT is an implementation of digital technology. DTT provides more channels and better quality of picture and sound, using aerial broadcasts to a conventional antenna (or aerial) instead of a satellite dish or cable connection. DTT is transmitted on radio frequencies through the airwaves, which is similar to standard analogue television except for one primary difference, the use of multiplex transmitters to allow reception of multiple channels on a single frequency range.

To fulfill the growing demand on online video, StarTimes pioneers its video streaming service, StarTimes ON, in African market. Just ahead 2018 Russia World Cup, StarTimes officially launched video streaming service, having enabled African users to watch all 64 World Cup matches in HD on StarTimes ON. Now StarTimes ON has accumulated 27 million users in the market, becoming one of three major video distribution platforms of the company.

StarTimes terminal devices are specifically designed for the African market and cover different application scenarios, which includes DTH decoder, DTT decoder, Combo Decoder, DVB+OTT Decoder, Digital TV set, Projector TV and Solar Power system, etc

Featured Content Platform

StarTimes owns a featured content platform, with 630+ authorized channels consisting of news, movies, series, sports, entertainment, children's programs, fashion, religion etc. The channels are broadcast in over 10 different languages, such as English, French, Portuguese, Africa indigenous languages, Chinese, Hindi, etc.

StarTimes are operating 43 self-operated channels, including StarTimes World Football, Novela, KungFu, Sino Drama, Series, Guide, Movies, Bollywood, Swahili, DADIN KOWA, etc. More than 30,000 hours of new programs are broadcasted on StarTimes channels annually, airing 24 hours a day. The self-producing programs, like “Nigerians in China”, “MAISHA BORA”, “Kungfu Show”, “Miss Mama Africa”, “Find Mr Right” are loved by African audience.

With 8 self-produced sports channels, StarTimes offers African football fans access to the world’s most popular football matches: World Cup, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, CSL, ICC, etc.

StarTimes established its translation and dubbing center in 2011. With translation and dubbing talents from dozens of countries and sticking to international standard and multi-language dubbing, StarTimes now has built a large-scale translation & dubbing center, which has 10,000 hours’ output capacity, and dubs in 11 languages. It has been recently upgraded as the China (Beijing) Movies & TV Series Translation and Dubbing Center.

Currently, StarTimes has forged good relations with many content distributors, and planned to bring more StarTimes’ dubbed movies and TV series to Africa and other regions of world. In future, StarTimes is going to build a global network to extend StarTimes self-produced programs all over the world.

Powerful Media Partner Resources

After 10-year cultivation in African digital TV market, StarTimes has established long-term and friendly cooperative relations with many world-renowned media groups, like Fox, BBC, Discovery, CGTN, NBC, Disney and Trace.

As a digital TV operator, StarTimes naturally is key partner of 200+ African local media, which includes national TV stations of African countries. For example, in Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia, StarTimes is jointly operating business respectively with NTA, TBC and ZNBC.

In Africa, StarTimes has forged a strong and wide PR network with maintaining good relations with an amount of African TV, radio, print and online media friends. StarTimes has accumulated a 1,000 journalist database covering over 40 African countries.

At the same time, StarTimes also strengthens its social media channels and attractive millions of followers through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. Now followers of StarTimes Facebook accounts have reached 13 million.

Corporate Social Responsibility

As an influential and responsible enterprise in African digital TV industry, StarTimes always takes corporate social responsibility seriously.

The biggest social value that StarTimes has achieved is that StarTimes makes pay-TV affordable for normal families. Because of StarTimes’ entering African market, the price of pay-TV has been greatly lowered, from average $50 per month to 3 or 5 dollars per month. StarTimes believes in the equality of information; and no matter rich or poor, people have equal rights to learn outside world through television and enjoy the beauty of digital TV.

StarTimes also developed cooperative relationships with UNAIDS and the NGO SOS Children's Villages International and actively fulfilled its corporate social responsibilities in order to help raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in Africa and provide skills training and job opportunities for African youths.

In 2015, when Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, he announced that China would implement satellite TV programs for 10 thousand African villages. The project, known as “Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages”, will be undertaken by StarTimes. There will be 10,112 rural villages of 20+ African countries benefiting from the project. Each village will be aided with two StarTimes Projector TVs, one 32 inch Digital TV set and 20 DTH decoders and satellite dishes. Projector TVs and Digital TV set will be equipped with solar power systems and DTH access units. The Projector TVs and Digital TV set will be laid out in the public area of the village, like school or village clinic, which could allow all villagers, especially kids, to enjoy the wonderful digital TV programs of 20 channels for permanent free.

During the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in 2014, StarTimes created content and broadcast messages and programs about the prevention and management of Ebola, including pull-up banners in outlet stores, scroll messages on-screen and online activities through social media.

Localization Human Resource Strategy

In terms of human resource, StarTimes adopts a “localization” strategy with employing African locals accounting for 75% of its total 5,000 employees.

Furthermore, StarTimes seriously implements the localization strategy on staff and offer professional and normative training to local employees so as to improve the overall professional qualities. StarTimes has contributed huge job opportunities to local people and enhanced the employee’s skills and qualities with the training system.

Awards

In Africa, StarTimes has widely been admitted, admired and applauded by customers, industry and governments:
    Forbes China Potential Enterprise
    Gold Medal of International Star of the 2015 World Quality Commitment
    The European Awards for Best Practices 2016 of ESQR
    DIAA 2019 Award of Excellence: Africa Best Content App - StarTimes ON
    2019 COFEK: Consumer Top Brand, for driving innovation in digital broadcasting industry in Kenya
    3rd Digital Tech Excellence Awards: Best Digital TV Solutions Provider 2019