, Tanzania StarTimes Group was founded in 1988 by Chinese engineer Pang Xinxing, who is also the company's current chairman. In 2002, StarTimes began to expand its business to Africa. In 2007, it became the first digital television operator licensed by
Rwanda. In the same year, it announced its expansion to other countries of the
East African Community. The investments in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda combined were higher than Rwanda's. In February 2016, StarTimes was awarded a
DTH license in Ivory Coast. Operations began in October 2016. On November 23, 2016, StarTimes was one of the three companies selected by the
Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to establish and operate DTH distribution services in Pakistan for 15 years. But due to corruption and incompetency PEMRA delayed almost a decade to launch DTH in Pakistan, StarTimes withdrew application of launching DTH in Pakistan. On 2 September 2017, the
Government of Chad and StarTimes signed an agreement on digital migration. After a lengthy process, StarTimes was chosen to build a Digital Terrestrial Television network that will include digitization of national infrastructures, television broadcast and reception. In 2018, StarTimes began to implement "
Access to satellite TV for 10,000 African villages", a China-Africa cooperation project aimed at giving rural areas of Africa access to digital media. In 2017, the
Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) and StarTimes launched TopStar Communication Company Limited, a public signal distributor and Zambia's official digital migration agent, as a joint-venture. In June 2018, StarTimes launched ON, a video streaming service (OTT) giving access to dozens of channels in Africa. In 2020, StarTimes e-shopping platform,
StarTimes GO was launched. This interactive online shopping platform is supported by TV, Online and Phone call services and available across Africa.
Seminar In 2011, StarTimes hosted the first
African Digital TV Development Seminar, which has been held for seven consecutive years; it is a talking shop for African countries to discuss digital migration in Africa. The 8th edition of the Seminar held in Beijing in June 2018 had over 400 delegates, dignitaries, heads of broadcasting corporations and guests from 48 African and Asian countries.
Sports broadcasting In 2015, StarTimes signed an exclusive broadcasting contract with the
Bundesliga for five years in all sub-Saharan countries, on its
StarTimes Sports channels, becoming Bundesliga's partner in Africa. This resulted in StarTimes and
DFL Deutsche Fussball Liga organizing the
StarTimes-Bundesliga Legends Tour where Bundesliga players like
Lothar Matthäus,
Jay-Jay Okocha and
Sunday Oliseh visit African countries every year. In December 2015, Jay-Jay Okocha and Sunday Oliseh visited Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. In 2015, StarTimes obtained the rights to televise French
Ligue 1 and Italian
Serie A in
Sub-Saharan countries. In July 2015, it signed a five-year broadcasting contract for the
International Champions Cup (ICC). In June 2016, StarTimes also signed a three-year exclusive broadcasting contract with the
Chinese Super League for Sub-Saharan Africa. In November 2016, StarTimes Group signed a media agreement with
Ghana Football Association to promote the
Ghana Premier League in Sub-Saharan Africa and the infrastructural development of the game in the West African country during the coming decade. In January 2020, one month after losing the franchise, StarTimes won the bid and was named as Television Rights Holder of the Ghana Premier League and the FA Cup. In April 2017, StarTimes secured media rights for
2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and the other 2017-2018 FIFA events in all 42 territories of Sub-Saharan Africa (except for the World Cup 2018 and the
FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 in South Africa). StarTimes also signed a partnership with Ivoirian football club
ASEC Mimosas. On 19 July 2017, StarTimes acquired exclusive media rights in Sub-Saharan Africa for
FIBA's national team competitions from 2017 to 2021, including the
2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China. On 9 August 2018, StarTimes and
Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) announced that StarTimes acquired both the naming and broadcast rights of the
Uganda Premier League and
FUFA Big League for a 10 years period. In September 2018, StarTimes launched a live telecast of
UEFA Europa League. StarTimes will broadcast UEFA Europa League in all Sub-Saharan Africa except South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. It has been awarded exclusive rights for English, Portuguese and local languages in English-speaking and Portuguese-speaking areas until 2021. In November 2018, StarTimes acquired exclusive media rights to
Coppa Italia and
Supercoppa Italiana in Sub-Saharan Africa, ending in the 2020/2021 season. In August 2019, StarTimes announces it acquired
UEFA National Team Football broadcasting rights between 2019 and 2022, including
UEFA Euro 2020 as well as
Qualifiers to Euro 2020,
UEFA Nations League 2020/21 and European Qualifiers to
2022 FIFA World Cup. All national friendlies are also part of the contract. In early August 2020, StarTimes acquired Spanish top league
LaLiga Santander broadcasting rights until 2024 across sub-Saharan Africa. Later the same year,
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) unveiled StarTimes as their official broadcasting partners for the
FKF Premier League, while the
Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) signed a tripartite broadcast sponsorship deal with ZNBC and TopStar (StarTimes) resulting in
National Division One matches being shown live on TV. In January 2021, The
Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) officialized the signing of an agreement by which StarTimes obtains the broadcasting rights for the
Total African Nations Championship, Cameroon 2020 (Total CHAN Cameroon 2020). == Products ==