Disney Star facts for kids

Disney Star, also known as JioStar, is a big Indian media company. It's a joint venture, which means it's owned by several companies working together: Reliance Industries, Viacom18, and Disney India. On November 14, 2024, Disney Star joined forces with Viacom18 to create JioStar. This company is now the largest TV and entertainment network in India. It runs over 100 TV channels and a popular streaming service called JioHotstar.

Quick facts for kids
Disney Star

Trade name	JioStar India Private Limited
Formerly	Star TV (1990–2011) Star India (2011–2022)
Type	Joint venture
Industry	Media conglomerate
Founded	1 August 1990; 34 years ago (1990-08-01) (as Star TV)
Founders	Hutchison Whampoa Li Ka-shing
Headquarters	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Nita Ambani (chair) Uday Shankar (vice-chair) Kiran Mani (CEO)
Services	Television broadcasting Films
Revenue	₹260 billion (US$4.4 billion) (FY 2024)
Owner	Li Ka-shing (1990–1995) Star TV (1995–2013) 21st Century Fox (2013–2019) Disney India (2019–2024; 100% owned) (2024–present; joint venture) Viacom18 (2024–present; joint venture) Reliance Industries (2024–present; joint venture)
Divisions	Star Studios Star Sports JioHotstar

History of Disney Star

How it Started (1990–2000)

Disney Star began as Star TV in 1990. It was a joint project between Hutchison Whampoa and Li Ka-shing. They launched English entertainment channels for people in Asia. Some of their first channels included Star Plus, Star Chinese Channel, and Prime Sports.

In 1992, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation bought most of Star India. They bought the rest of the company in 1993. Star TV then launched more channels like Star Movies and Channel V. They also started Star Plus for Indian viewers.

Growing Bigger (2001–2017)

In 2001, Star India bought Vijay TV, a channel in South India. Later, in 2003, Star India's news channel, Star News, changed. Star India partnered with another group to run the news channel. Star India later left this partnership in 2012. The channel then became ABP News.

Star India launched new channels for different languages. Star One, a Hindi youth channel, started in 2004. In 2008, they launched Star Jalsha for Bengali speakers and Star Pravah for Marathi speakers.

In 2009, Star India bought Asianet Communications, which offered Malayalam content. The same year, Star Group changed how its Asian businesses were organized. They also started a film company called Fox Star Studios India.

In 2012, Star India won the rights to broadcast cricket matches from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). This included matches of the India national cricket team. In 2013, Star India changed the names of its Star Sports channels.

In 2015, Star India launched Hotstar, a streaming service. It offered content in many Indian languages and showed sports events. Star also bought Maa Television to grow its presence in Telugu-speaking areas.

In 2017, Star India partnered with TED to create a TV series called TED Talks India – Nayi Soch. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan hosted the show. Later that year, Star India won the rights to broadcast the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches.

Changes and Mergers (2018–Present)

In 2018, Star India renewed its BCCI cricket rights. On December 14, 2017, The Walt Disney Company announced it planned to buy Star India's parent company, 21st Century Fox. This deal was completed on March 20, 2019. After this, Star India became part of Disney India.

In April 2020, Disney merged Hotstar with Disney+ in India. This created Disney+ Hotstar. In 2021, Disney decided to stop offering Hotstar in the US. Its content moved to Hulu and ESPN+.

On April 14, 2022, Star India officially changed its name to Disney Star. On May 27, 2022, Fox Star Studios was renamed Star Studios. This was part of removing the "Fox" name from companies Disney bought.

In July 2023, The Walt Disney Company started looking for options for its businesses in India. They talked with Reliance Industries and other companies. In December 2023, Disney and Reliance signed a deal to merge their businesses. Reliance would own 51% of the new company, and Disney would own 49%.

In February 2024, Disney and Reliance finalized their deal. Viacom18 merged into Disney Star. Disney now holds a 36.84% share in the new company. Reliance holds 16.34%, and Viacom18 holds 46.82%. This merger brought together many popular channels like StarPlus, Colors TV, Star Sports, and streaming services like JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. Nita Ambani became the chairperson of this new joint venture.

Channels Owned by Disney Star

Channels on Air in India

Channels on Air Internationally

Upcoming Channels

Channels That Are No Longer Active

Related Companies

• Paramount International Networks
• Paramount Networks EMEAA
• Viacom18
• Network18 Group

See also

In Spanish: Disney Star para niños