Murdoch names StarTV chief

HONG KONG - Rupert Murdoch has appointed one of his top men, James Griffiths, as managing director of StarTV, the Asian satellite television broadcaster in which his News Corporation took a majority stake last month.

Mr Griffiths will report to Sam Chisholm, chief executive of British Sky Broadcasting, although News maintained that Mr Chisholm did not have overall responsibility for the group's satellite television interests.

Star's previous managing director, Julian Mounter, resigned soon after News took control. Mr Griffiths, 39, is president for pay television and international home video for Twentieth Century Fox, also owned by News, a job he took up in March. Previously he had been executive vice- president for corporate operations, and before that vice-president for film programming at the Fox TV network.

He said he was looking forward to meeting governments in Asia to develop an entertainment and information service that respected the many cross- currents of cultural heritage in the region. The Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, has been among those in Asia to criticise News' purchase of Star, saying it was another attempt by Western interests to dominate the region's media. News paid USdollars 525m for a 63.6 per cent stake in HutchVision, which operates Star.