James Murdoch comes a-calling

STAR TV's James Murdoch is set to spend a week in India beginning Monday. While STAR TV sources remain tight-lipped on his agenda for the visit, issues that are expected to occupy centrestage (other than a routine overview of the business) include the proposed entry into print and further inroads into the regional television business,

Campaign India had earlier reported that News Corporation was exploring a print foray with Vijay Mallya as a partner, with Paul Aiello, Uday Shankar and Jagdish Kumar descending on Bangalore for closed-room parleys. There was no official comment from STAR TV sources in reaction to the story.

The regional channel ambitions have seen STAR enter into discussions with Rajeev Chandrasekhar's Jupiter for a possible investment into the non-news offerings, including Asianet. STAR had, earlier this month, hired Ogilvy's Mumbai president, JC Giri, to head the businesses of the channels in south India. Currently, STAR's only presence in the lucrative southern market is STAR Vijay, the Tamil channel. STAR Vijay will shortly carry a Tamil version of Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain? The show will not be dubbed into Tamil as was the case with KBC but will be shot afresh with a local celebrity as the anchor.