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Disney Star facts for kids

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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)
Joint venture
Industry Media conglomerate
Founded 1 August 1990; 34 years ago (1990-08-01) (as Star TV)
Founders
Headquarters
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
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

Channel Launched Language Category SD/HD Notes
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
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
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
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
Star Gold Comedy Hindi SD TBA
Star Jalsha Josh Bengali

Channels That Are No Longer Active

Channel Launched Defunct Language Category SD/HD Notes
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
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

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Disney Star para niños

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