Star Plus ends content deal with ATN in Canada

Star Plus has ended its content deal with Canadian broadcaster, ATN (Asian Television Network).

As of Sunday 1st October, Star Plus programming has been replaced with shows from rival channel, &TV. Star Plus has been available through ATN since 2006. While the news may come shocking for ardent Star Plus fans in the country, the channel had been running a scroll on-air for the past week during shows.

Sources told BizAsiaLive.com that the decision was down to Hotstar being launched in the country recently. The broadcaster is said to be investing lots into its Hotstar platform since Star TV acquired rights to air the Indian Premier League from next year. Hotstar has been given a huge launch in the market with promotions through television adverts and outdoor campaigns.

It also seems like Star TV will no longer provide content on rival OTT platforms such as YuppTV and Lebara.

Previously, ZEE TV ended its content deal with ATN to make way for a fully fledged ZEE TV service on cable platform, Rogers in Canada. It is not yet clear if Star Plus will follow the same way.

With the way things stand, Star Plus and Star Vijay are no longer available in Canda via ATN. Star Bharat and Star Gold seem to be unaffected.

BizAsiaLive.com awaits an official statement from Star TV International.