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.
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Trade name
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JioStar India Private Limited |
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Formerly
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Joint venture | |
Industry | Media conglomerate |
Founded | 1 August 1990 | (as Star TV)
Founders |
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Headquarters |
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
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Area served
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Worldwide |
Key people
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Services | Television broadcasting Films |
Revenue | ₹260 billion (US$4.4 billion) (FY 2024) |
Owner |
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Divisions |
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Contents
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
Channel | Launched | Language | Category | SD/HD | Notes |
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StarPlus | 1992 | Hindi | General Entertainment | SD+HD | |
Colors TV | 2008 | ||||
Star Bharat | 2017 | Formerly Star One and Life OK | |||
Star Utsav | 2004 | SD | |||
Colors Rishtey | 2014 | Formerly Rishtey | |||
Star Gold | 2000 | Movies | SD+HD | ||
Colors Cineplex | 2016 | Formerly Rishtey Cineplex (original) | |||
Star Gold 2 | 2020 | Formerly Movies OK and UTV HD | |||
Star Gold Select | 2017 | ||||
Star Utsav Movies | 2016 | SD | |||
Colors Cineplex Bollywood | 2021 | ||||
Colors Cineplex Superhits | 2022 | Formerly Rishtey Cineplex (relaunch) | |||
Star Gold Romance | 2023 | Formerly UTV Movies | |||
Star Gold Thrills | Formerly UTV Action | ||||
MTV | 1996 | Youth | SD+HD | Formerly MTV HD+ | |
Star Sports 1 Hindi | 2017 | Sports | SD+HD | Formerly Star Cricket | |
Star Sports 2 Hindi | 2025 | Replaced Sports18 1 | |||
Star Sports Khel | 2025 | SD | Replaced Sports18 Khel | ||
Colors Infinity | 2015 | English | General Entertainment | SD+HD | |
Disney International HD | 2017 | HD | |||
Star Movies | 1991 | Movies | SD+HD | ||
Star Movies Select | 2015 | ||||
Star Sports 1 | 1996 | Sports | |||
Star Sports 2 | 2013 | ||||
Star Sports 3 | 2018 | SD | Replaced Channel V | ||
Star Sports Select 1 | 2016 | SD+HD | |||
Star Sports Select 2 | |||||
Star 4K | 2024 | 4K | |||
Hungama TV | 2004 | Hindi Tamil Telugu |
Kids | SD | |
Nickelodeon | 1999 | Hindi Tamil Telugu Malayalam Bengali Marathi Gujarati Kannada |
SD | ||
Sonic | 2011 | Formerly Sonic Nickelodeon and Nickelodeon Sonic | |||
Nick Jr. | 2012 | Hindi English |
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Nickelodeon HD+ | 2015 | HD | |||
Disney Channel | 2004 | English Hindi Tamil Telugu |
SD+HD | ||
Disney Jr. | 2012 | SD | |||
Super Hungama | 2022 | Formerly Toon Disney, Disney XD. and Marvel HQ | |||
History TV18 | 2011 | Hindi English Tamil Telugu Marathi |
Infotainment | SD+HD | Joint Venture with A&E Networks |
National Geographic | 1998 | English Hindi Tamil Bengali |
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National Geographic Wild | 2009 | ||||
Colors Bangla | 2000 | Bengali | General Entertainment | Formerly ETV Bangla | |
Star Jalsha | 2008 | ||||
Star Jalsha Movies | 2012 | Movies | |||
Colors Bangla Cinema | 2019 | SD | HD version coming soon | ||
Colors Gujarati | 2002 | Gujarati | General Entertainment | Formerly ETV Gujarati | |
Colors Gujarati Cinema | 2019 | Movies | |||
Colors Marathi | 2000 | Marathi | General Entertainment | SD+HD | Formerly ETV Marathi |
Star Pravah | 2008 | ||||
Star Pravah Picture | 2022 | Movies | |||
Star Kiran | 2022 | Odia | General Entertainment | SD | |
Star Vijay | 1994 | Tamil | SD+HD | Formerly Golden Eagle and Vijay TV | |
Colors Tamil | 2018 | ||||
Star Vijay Super | 2016 | Movies | |||
Star Vijay Takkar | 2022 | SD | Replaced Star Vijay Music | ||
Star Sports 1 Tamil | 2017 | Sports | SD+HD | ||
Star Sports 2 Tamil | 2025 | Replaced Sports18 3 | |||
Star Maa | 2002 | Telugu | General Entertainment | Formerly Maa TV | |
Star Maa Movies | 2011 | Movies | Formerly Maa Movies | ||
Star Maa Gold | 2012 | SD | Formerly Maa Junior and Maa Gold | ||
Star Maa Music | 2008 | Music | Formerly Maa Music | ||
Star Sports 1 Telugu | 2018 | Sports | SD+HD | ||
Star Sports 2 Telugu | 2025 | Replaced Sports18 2 | |||
Colors Kannada | 2000 | Kannada | General Entertainment | Formerly ETV Kannada | |
Star Suvarna | 2007 | Formerly Asianet Suvarna | |||
Colors Super | 2016 | SD | |||
Star Suvarna Plus | 2013 | Movies | Formerly Asianet Suvarna Plus | ||
Colors Kannada Cinema | 2018 | ||||
Star Sports 1 Kannada | 2018 | Sports | |||
Star Sports 2 Kannada | 2025 | Replaced Star Sports First | |||
Asianet | 1993 | Malayalam | General Entertainment | SD+HD | |
Asianet Plus | 2005 | SD | |||
Asianet Movies | 2012 | Movies | SD+HD |
Channels on Air Internationally
Channel | Launched | Language | Category | SD/HD | Notes |
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Utsav Plus | 2021 | Hindi | General Entertainment | SD+HD | UK and EU only |
Utsav Bharat | |||||
Utsav Gold | Movies | ||||
Star Select | 2023 | General Entertainment | HD | South Africa only | |
Star Life | 2018 | English | SD+HD | Africa only | |
Vijay TV | 2021 | Tamil | SD | Middle East and South‐East Asia only | |
Asianet Middle East | 2010 | Malayalam | Middle East only |
Upcoming Channels
Channel | Language | SD/HD | Launch | Notes |
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Star Gold Comedy | Hindi | SD | TBA | |
Star Jalsha Josh | Bengali |
Channels That Are No Longer Active
Channel | Launched | Defunct | Language | Category | SD/HD | Notes |
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Star One | 2004 | 2011 | Hindi | General Entertainment | SD | Replaced by Life OK |
Life OK | 2011 | 2017 | SD+HD | Replaced by Star Bharat | ||
Movies OK | 2012 | 2020 | Movies | SD | Replaced by Star Gold 2 | |
UTV Movies | 2008 | 2023 | Replaced by Star Gold Romance | |||
UTV Action | 2010 | Replaced by Star Gold Thrills | ||||
UTV HD | 2018 | HD | Rebranded as Star Gold 2 HD | |||
Channel V | 1994 | 2018 | Music | SD | Replaced by Star Sports 3 | |
Bindass | 2007 | 2025 | ||||
MTV Beats | 2016 | 2025 | SD+HD | Formerly MTV Indies | ||
Sports18 Khel | 2022 | 2025 | Sports | SD | Replaced by Star Sports Khel | |
Star News | 1998 | 2012 | News | Sold & rebranded as ABP News | ||
Star World | 1991 | 2023 | English | General Entertainment | SD+HD | HD: discontinued SD: Replaced by Star Sports 1 Tamil HD |
FX | 2010 | 2017 | HD: Star Sports First SD: Star Sports Select 2 SD |
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Comedy Central | 2012 | 2025 | ||||
Fox Crime | 2010 | 2015 | SD | Replaced by Star Movies Select HD | ||
Star World Premiere | 2011 | 2023 | HD | Replaced by Star Movies Select SD | ||
Star Movies Action | 2013 | 2017 | Movies | SD | Formerly Fox Action Movies replaced by Star Gold Select SD | |
VH1 | 2005 | 2025 | Music | SD+HD | ||
BabyTV | 2009 | 2023 | Kids | |||
Star Cricket | 2007 | 2013 | Sports | Replaced by Star Sports 3, Star Sports 1 Hindi | ||
Sports18 1 | 2022 | 2025 | Sports | Replaced by Star Sports 2 Hindi | ||
Sports18 2 | 2023 | 2025 | SD | Replaced by Star Sports 2 Telugu | ||
Sports18 3 | 2025 | Replaced by Star Sports 2 Tamil | ||||
Nat Geo Music | 2007 | 2019 | Hindi English |
Music | SD+HD | Replaced by Nat Geo Telugu |
FYI TV18 | 2016 | 2020 | Lifestyle | |||
Star CJ Alive | 2009 | 2015 | Shopping | SD | Replaced by Shop CJ | |
Star Life | 2024 | 2025 | English Hindi |
Lifestyle | SD+HD | Formerly Fox Life |
Fox Life | 2014 | 2024 | English Hindi Bengali Tamil |
Infotainment | Replaced by Star Life | |
Disney XD | 2009 | 2019 | English Hindi Tamil Telugu |
Kids | SD | Rebranded as Marvel HQ |
Marvel HQ | 2019 | 2022 | Rebranded as Super Hungama | |||
Star Sports 1 Bangla | 2019 | 2023 | Bengali | Sports | Discontinued | |
Star Ananda | 2005 | 2012 | News | Sold & rebranded as ABP Ananda | ||
Star Sports 1 Marathi | 2019 | 2023 | Marathi | Sports | Discontinued | |
Star Majha | 2007 | 2012 | News | Sold & rebranded as ABP Majha | ||
Colors Odia | 2002 | 2025 | Odia | General Entertainment | Previously known as ETV Odia | |
Star Vijay Music | 2020 | 2022 | Tamil | Music | Replaced by Star Vijay Takkar | |
Nat Geo Tamil | 2019 | 2020 | Infotainment | Discontinued | ||
Nat Geo Telugu | Telugu |
Related Companies
- Paramount International Networks
- Paramount Networks EMEAA
- Viacom18
- Network18 Group
See also
In Spanish: Disney Star para niños