Fox
CountryPortugal
Angola
Mozambique
Cape Verde
HeadquartersMadrid, Spain
Programming
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed)
Ownership
OwnerThe Walt Disney Company Portugal
ParentThe Walt Disney Company Iberia S.L.
Sister channelsFox Life
Fox Crime
Fox Comedy
Fox Movies
24Kitchen
Mundo Fox
National Geographic Channel
Nat Geo Wild
BabyTV
History
LaunchedMarch 1, 2003 (2003-03-01)[1]
Links
Websitefoxtv.pt (in Portuguese)

Fox Portugal (marketed and commonly known as Fox and to be renamed as Star Channel on February 7, 2024) is a Portuguese pay television channel. It primarily specializes its content in American television series and feature films. Since 2019, it is owned by Walt Disney Company. Its main competitor is AXN.[2]

In the past (until 2015), the channel also aired comedies; these were later moved to the Portuguese feed of FX, which in November 2015 was renamed Fox Comedy.

History

As Fox

In February 2003, it was announced that Fox would start broadcasting on Cabovisão from March 1, one of the cable companies that existed at the time, as an exclusive channel to the platform. Cristina Gomez, director-general of Cabovisão, explained to the Lusa news agency that the channel was "a unique experience in Portugal", combining "the greatest hits from the Fox studio, some Portuguese movies and the most important television series". The primary target was defined as viewers in the 18-45 age range, with the aim of leading the entertainment segment in Portugal, similar to what happened in Latin America and Japan, despite of the reduced coverage of Cabovisão, which had 17% of the share of the pay-TV operators at the time, against 80% from TV Cabo.[3] The channel promised television series already broadcast in Portugal, as well as some new series that were exclusive to the channel at the time: The Simpsons, The X-Files, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Alien Nation, Batman, L.A. Law, The Pretender and Lou Grant. From the start, the channel would broadcast 18 hours a day, from 9am to 3am.[1] Usually, most of these hit series were shown on late night slots on terrestrial networks. Portugal was a key market for the European expansion of the brand, primarily due to the fact that Portuguese viewers have long since been used to watch television series in their original soundtrack with subtitles.[4]

On September 27, 2004, the channel premiered Las Vegas.[5]

The channel's reach increased in May 2005, when it launched on the TV Cabo platform in its then-new Funtastic Life package.[6] The channel was temporarily available to analog subscribers before moving to Funtastic Life as an exclusive in June 2005. Regional director-general of FOX International Channels Sónia Jackson said that it and the newly-launched FOX Life would "attract customers to the digital network".[7] The fact that it was exclusive to the Funtastic Life package was merely strategic.[8] Within more than three years from launching, the channel's ratings increased significantly, becoming the fourth most-watched cable network, behind AXN, SIC Notícias and Canal Panda. The launch on TV Cabo in 2005 enabled the channel to be measured by Marktest. The channel had increased from 1,400 viewers at launch to close to 12,000 in October 2006 alone. That same month, the average number of viewers that accessed the channel for at least one second stood at 620,000, which at the time was a record high.[9]

The channel broadcast the finale of Lost almost simultaneously with the US broadcast on the early hours (5 to 7am) of May 24, 2010. The simulcast had audio problems on the HD feed. The episode repeated on June 1.[10]

For Carnaval 2015 (which fell on February 17), the channel premiered the TV version of Porta dos Fundos. Fox set the date as National Hangover Day, and aired the first episode sideways on purpose, to target "hungover viewers".[11]

As Star Channel

On November 27, 2023, Disney has announced that Fox would rebrand to Star Channel on 7 February 2024. The visual concept is of a "luminous shooting star" that will guide the viewers through its programming.[12] The programming will remain mostly unchanged.[13][14][15]

Shows

Current programming

Source:[16]

In addition to the above, the channel also airs feature films on weekends.

Former programming

References

  1. 1 2 "Canal FOX inicia emissões dia 1 de Março na Cabovisão". Meios & Publicidade (in European Portuguese). 2003-02-21. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  2. "Audiencias AXN". Telesatelite. 2009-01-19. Archived from the original on 2009-01-20. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  3. "Fox TV: canal de êxitos no cabo a partir de Março". Público. 19 February 2003. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  4. "CRISTINA GÓMEZ: O FOX É UM CANAL DE ÊXITOS". Correio da Manhã. 19 February 2003. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  5. "LAS VEGAS ESTREIA NA CABOVISÃO". Correio da Manhã. 26 September 2004. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  6. "TV Cabo investe 70 a 80 milhões de euros este ano (act)". Jornal de Negócios. 19 May 2005. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  7. "FOX aposta na rede digital". Correio da Manhã. 23 May 2005. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  8. "De convicções inabaláveis: "Quem tem o Fox vê o Fox"". Público. 16 July 2006. Archived from the original on 30 May 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  9. "Fox TV: canal de êxitos no cabo a partir de Março". Público. 24 October 2006. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  10. "Vimos o fim de "Perdidos", mas não contamos (tudo)". Público. 24 May 2010. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  11. "'Porta dos Fundos' chega hoje à FOX". Correio da Manhã. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2024. {{cite web}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)
  12. "Disney ends Fox brand in Portugal". theportugalnews.com. 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  13. "Perguntas Frequentes - A FOX vai ser STAR Channel". foxtv.pt (in Portuguese). 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  14. "Canais Fox vão mudar de nome e assumir marca Star" [Fox channels will change their name and adopt the Star brand]. publico.pt (in Portuguese). 2023-11-27. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  15. "Canais FOX vão passar a ser Star Channel já em 2024". marketeer.sapo.pt. 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  16. TV, Fox. "Programação FOX, FOX Crime, FOX Comedy, FOX Life, FOX Movies, MundoFOX". www.foxtv.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Séries". FOX. Archived from the original on 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "Séries". Fox. Archived from the original on 2010-06-06. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "Séries". Fox. Archived from the original on 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 "Programação". FOX. Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  21. 1 2 3 4 "Série". Fox. Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
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