MUMBAI: Star, Rupert Murdoch's Asian pay TV platform, has declared a 27 per cent reduction in quarterly operating loss for the quarter 1 July to 30 September this year compared to the corresponding period last year, reports say.

A report put out by advanced-television.com, Star TV, while not getting into exact numbers, says that the gain was due to a 15 per cent revenue growth, mainly provided by the jewel in Star Asia's crown, Star Plus in India. The report also highlighted that joint ventures in India, China and Taiwan, respectively Hathway Cable, Phoenix Satellite TV and Taiwan Cable Systems, showed increased revenues four times over what was recorded for the same period in 2001.

ESPN Star Sports (ESS) reported a 48 per cent increase in revenue in Hong Kong and India on the back of anti-piracy measures and subscription increases levied on cable TV operators respectively, the report says.

The increasing contribution from Star's India operations clearly goes to show that Peter Mukerjea and his team are on the right track. The question being asked is: how long will they continue on their winning streak?