Star has also launched an advertising campaign for the channel, featuring the tagline, 'Open your eyes to something brand new'.
with "programmes never seen before in China".
"Everything's in Mandarin with all the programmes developed and produced with local partners. It's similar to the Star Plus channel in India. For a market like China, you need local language programming. You cannot win the hearts and minds of people with English. You have to have programmes developed specifically for the market."
Xing Kong is positioned as entertaining, fun, hip, young and cool, with the target audience being people aged between 15 and 45.
Its programming is designed to appeal to a diverse viewer base: a late night David Letterman-type talk show, sitcoms and dramas, cooking and quiz contests and programmes for women.
There is even, 'Wanted! In China' - based on 'America's Most Wanted' programme. Wanted is produced in collaboration with the Chinese Government's Security Ministry.
The strategy focuses on keeping the audience tuning in daily, with "top quality and compelling shows, be they sitcoms or talk or game shows", said Davis. One such sitcom is 'Joyful Youth', which is being produced for Xing Kong by Ying Da, one of China's top television directors.
Advertisers have started signing up from a wide range of categories, including household products, hi-tech goods, fashion and cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and liquor, according to Davis.
One thing missing, however, is news. But Davis said that news in the traditional sense did not fit into the positioning of the channel.
"We already have a sister channel in Phoenix which does news. But to be honest, there is a lot of news out there anyway. And for us to go that route, we would be producing more of the same. There is nothing to add," he said.
