Star India Pvt. Ltd , a unit of Rupert Murdoch 's News Corp. , is close to buying out minority stakeholders in a venture that controls its South Indian language channels, according to three people with knowledge of the development.
The South Indian channels that Star runs include two Asianet general entertainment channels (GECs) in Malayalam and Star Vijay in Tamil. The acquisition of the remaining stake of about 19% will be made from Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Asianet Communications Ltd's current managing director K. Madhavan.

News Corp. has been consolidating its various holdings over the past year or so by buying out partners in some joint ventures and selling out in others.

Star initially took a controlling interest in the Asianet channels in 2009 for $235 million in cash and $20 million of debt that it assumed, according to company filings.

"Southern channels are an important piece of Star's network," said a Star executive and one of the persons cited above. "Having complete control over Asianet will help take decisions to strengthen the broadcaster's position in the segment."

The Asianet channels include Asianet and Asianet Plus (Malayalam GECs), besides Asianet Suvarna (a Kannada GEC) and Telugu channel Sitara. Last year, Star launched Malayalam film channel Asianet Movies to expand its presence.

Star India's spokesperson declined to comment. Chandrasekhar and Madhavan didn't respond to calls and text messages.
The southern channels contribute about 15% of Star India's overall revenue, including advertising and subscriptions, according to industry estimates.

Star's southern channels compete with those of Sun TV Network Ltd and Eenadu, among other rivals.
"The Asianet buy has been a profitable proposition for Star. The Malayalam channel Asianet leads the pack and Asianet Plus ranks third in its genre, while Kannada channel Suvarna ranks second," said a second Star India executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Star Vijay ranks second after Sun group's Tamil channel."

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