Celestial Tiger Entertainment
| File:Celestial Tiger Entertainment Logo.png | |
| Formerly | Tiger Gate Entertainment (2008-2011) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Joint venture |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | Suite 1603, Kwun Tong Harbour Plaza, 182 Wai Yip Street, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China |
Key people | Todd Miller (President and CEO) |
| Products | |
| Brands | |
| Owners | |
| Website | www |
Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE), initially known as Tiger Gate Entertainment, is a multifaceted media enterprise headquartered in Hong Kong. It operates a portfolio of pay television entertainment channels throughout Asia and holds distribution rights for Lionsgate content within Greater China and Southeast Asia. The company is a collaborative venture jointly owned by Saban Capital Group, Starz Entertainment, and Celestial Pictures.
Overview
Established in 2008 under the name Tiger Gate Entertainment by private media investment firm Saban Capital Group alongside Lionsgate, the company debuted the pay TV channels Kix and Thrill in August 2009. By late 2011, with the addition of Celestial Pictures Limited to the partnership—bringing established channels such as Celestial Classic Movies and Celestial Movies—the company rebranded as Celestial Tiger Entertainment and rolled out high-definition (HD) broadcasts across various Asian territories.
In 2013, CTE broadened its reach by launching cHK in Singapore, aimed at audiences interested in Hong Kong's general entertainment. The channel's promotion included events featuring notable Hong Kong stars like Bernice Liu, Him Law, and Liu Kai-chi.
On August 15, 2024, CTE unveiled CMGO, marking its entry into Chinese movie streaming services. The app launched in Singapore with plans to extend to Malaysia on November 19, 2024. CMGO provides a carefully curated library of recent Chinese-language films sourced from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.
Lionsgate/Starz partnership
CTE possesses the Shaw Brothers film archive and capitalizes on Lionsgate’s extensive catalog of films and television series. In February 2012, YOU On Demand Holdings collaborated with Lionsgate to distribute Lionsgate titles through Transactional and Subscription Video On Demand (TVOD and SVOD) platforms within China.
By 2013, CTE had licensed more than 1,700 hours of Lionsgate television shows and movies—including titles like Anger Management, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, and The Hunger Games series—to broadcasters and digital platforms throughout Southeast Asia and China. The company extended its distribution agreement with Lionsgate to encompass Japan and Korea, while also securing an SVOD deal with MediaCorp’s Toggle platform in Singapore for over 700 hours of programming.
Channels
Celestial Tiger Entertainment operates the following channels:
- Celestial Movies – Showcases contemporary Asian films alongside entertainment news
- Accessible in Malaysia, Brunei, South Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore; forthcoming in Thailand and Myanmar.
- Celestial Classic Movies – Features classic Hong Kong Chinese cinema
- Available in Australia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia; previously broadcast in Taiwan.
- Celestial Movies Pinoy – Offers Asian movies dubbed in Filipino and English with English subtitles; distributed by Viva Communications
- Exclusively available in the Philippines on Cignal TV Channel 40 SD.
- cHK – Provides local Hong Kong entertainment content and showbiz updates
- Broadcast solely in Singapore until 2021.
- CM+ – Presents recent blockbusters along with exclusive Asian films
- Exclusively accessible in Singapore via Singtel TV Channel 571.
- PopC – Streams Chinese movies from mainland China online
- Available only in Hong Kong through myTV SUPER Channel 206.
- Kix – Focuses on action genres including MMA, TV series, reality shows, and extreme sports
- Distributed across Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia; previously available in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore. Expanded into Africa since October 2020.
- Thrill – Dedicated to horror, thriller, and suspense programming
- Broadcast in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Macau, Myanmar, Malaysia; formerly aired in Thailand and Singapore.
- Miao Mi – Mandarin-language children’s channel
- Available in Thailand and South Korea.
* Distributed in the Philippines by Creative Programs
** Joint venture with Viva Communications