Speculation is rife in Hong Kong and Tokyo that Shanghai-born Gareth Chang is soon to leave Japan's direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV service DirecTV and join Star TV.
Although Mr Chang's programming experience is limited, he is well-versed in the mechanics of getting a digital DTH system up and running in Asia, experience that is valuable as News Corp-owned Star TV continues to roll out these services across the region.
A fluent Putonghua-speaker, Mr Chang also enjoys fairly good relations with senior mainland officials. This is just the sort of insider track that Star TV's chairman, Rupert Murdoch, has been after since he bought the station in 1993.
Despite building a state-of-the-art production facility in Tianjin, junking plans to publish former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten's critical appraisal of China and publishing Deng Rong's glowing tribute to her father Deng Xiaoping, Mr Murdoch is still looking for someone with heavyweight guanxi.
Soundbites contacted Star TV, only to find the rumour had not permeated its corporate affairs department.
Public relations may be flourishing in Hong Kong, but not, it seems, in the offices of New World Telephone.
A customer trying to buy a mobile phone looked at the small print and objected to the clause that allowed New World to send junk mail through unless she specifically wrote to the customer services branch.
