Founding and early years (1990–2000) Star TV (Satellite Television Asian Region) was founded in 1990 as a joint venture between
Hutchison Whampoa and
Li Ka-shing. It launched Hollywood English-language entertainment channels for Asian audiences and in India as Star India. Its first five channels included
Star Plus (then an
English-language entertainment channel),
Star Chinese Channel,
Prime Sports,
MTV Asia (now
Channel V) and
BBC World Service Television (now simply
BBC News). It later launched
Star Movies,
Channel V, and
Star News with a limited Hindi offering, and then
Star Plus for Indian viewers.
2001–2017 In 2001, Star India acquired South India based
Vijay TV, renaming it
Star Vijay. In 2003, Star India's Star News deal with
NDTV ended. In the same year, the Indian government introduced a guideline limiting foreign equity in the national news business to 26%. At that time Star India was wholly owned by Hong Kong-based company
Satellite Television Asia Region Ltd. As a result, Star India entered into a joint venture with the
Anandabazar Patrika group (ABP) to form a new company, Media Content and Communications Services Pvt. Ltd. (MCCS), which took control of Star News' operations. ABP held a 74% majority stake, while Star India reduced its participation with the remaining 26% to comply with the regulations set for the uplinking of news and current affairs channels by the government of India. Star India, subsequently exited from this joint venture in 2012. After the split, the channel was renamed
ABP News and operated by the Anandabazar Patrika Group. In 2008,
Star Jalsha and
Star Pravah,
Bengali and
Marathi language
general entertainment channels respectively, were launched. In 2009, Star India acquired Kerala-based media conglomerate
Asianet Communications, which served
Malayalam language content. In August 2009, the
Star Group restructured its Asian broadcast businesses into three units – Star India,
Star China Media, and
Fox International Channels Asia.
News Corporation launched a film production and distribution business in India through
Fox Star Studios, an affiliate of Star India in the same year. In April 2012, Star India won the rights to
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) through 2018, replacing
Nimbus Communications. Valued at , the agreement included rights to
India national cricket team home matches on television and mobile streaming, as well as domestic tournaments such as the
Ranji Trophy and
Irani Cup. On 6 November 2013, Star India rebranded its
Star Sports channels, renaming the main
Star Sports channel to
Star Sports 1,
Star Cricket to Hindi-language
Star Sports 3,
ESPN to Tamil-language
Star Sports 4, and
Star Cricket HD and
ESPN HD to
Star Sports HD1 and
HD2. In February 2015, Star India launched its streaming service,
Hotstar, a mobile and online entertainment OTT platform that features content in 9 Indian languages and broadcasts sporting events. Star also acquired the broadcast businesses of
Maa TV to boost its presence in
Telugu-speaking markets, renaming it
Star Maa. In February 2017, Star India and global media conglomerate
TED announced a new TV series,
TED Talks India – Nayi Soch. The programme starred
Bollywood actor
Shah Rukh Khan and featured newer TED talks made in Hindi language. The programme followed the signature TED format of prominent speakers voicing their opinions in an 18-minute or less monologue in front of a live audience. On 28 August 2017, Star India rebranded its Hindi entertainment channel
Life OK to
Star Bharat. On 5 September 2017, Star India won the global media rights to broadcast the
Indian Premier League (IPL) under a five-year deal beginning in the
2018 tournament, and valued at . Beating previous rightsholder
Sony, the contract included domestic rights for Star Sports, and digital rights for Hotstar. On 14 December 2017,
The Walt Disney Company announced their intent to
acquire Star India's parent company
21st Century Fox for billion.
2018–2022 In 2018, Star India renewed its BCCI rights through March 2023, in a contract valued at . On 13 December 2018, Disney announced
Uday Shankar who served as chairman of Star India would lead
Disney's Asian operations and would become the new chairman of
Disney India, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. On 27 August 2018, the channel Star Life was launched in Africa in English language offering the English dubbed Indian Hindi series from the Indian star channels. On 4 January 2019, Star TV shut down its television operations in USA for the promotion of its digital counterpart, Hotstar. On 20 March 2019, Star India became a subsidiary of
Disney India after the US$71.3 billion deal in the acquisition of former parent company 21st Century Fox was closed. Disney India now owned television channels of both its extant subsidiary
UTV Software Communications and Star India. In April 2020, the Walt Disney Company merged Hotstar with
Disney+ in India to form
Disney+ Hotstar with Hotstar operating independently and coexisting with Disney+ in Canada and US, since it launched on 4 September 2017; the United Kingdom on 13 September 2018; and Singapore on 4 November 2020, prior to the launch of Disney+ in the country. On 30 December 2020, Disney announced that the Star branding would be replaced with Utsav from 1 February in the Netherlands, with the
Utsav Gold,
Utsav Plus and
Utsav Bharat branding launching in the UK on 22 January 2021. Star Vijay's international feed also changed a new logo based with Utsav Network in yellow colour and rebranded as Vijay TV around the world on that same day. Utsav Network separated into
Star Gold, Plus and Bharat also launched in South Korea. On 31 August 2021, Disney announced that it would phase out Hotstar in the US and move all content into
Hulu and
ESPN+. Initially, it was announced that the service would shut down in the US by late 2022, until it got moved to an earlier date on 30 November 2021. On 18 October 2021, Disney and Star announced that they would exit from the English general entertainment industry and that they would close down
Star World and
Star World Premiere in India originally planned by 30 November 2021 (although the Star Movies channels, alongside
Disney International HD would not be affected). The Bangla and Marathi feeds of Star Sports 1 also closed on the same day. Meanwhile, the Star Gold brand expanded with the launch of an
HD simulcast of
Star Gold 2 that replaced
UTV HD, alongside the rebranding of
UTV Movies and
UTV Action as
Star Gold Romance and
Star Gold Thrills.
Star Movies Select HD, Star Movies Hindi, and Star Movies Tamil were also to be launched as SD simulcasts of Star Movies, becoming the first niche premium English movie channel in India to do so. However, a delay in TRAI's new tariff order, followed by protests from digital cable operators and multi-system operators, caused the plans to be postponed till mid-March 2023. On 14 April 2022, Disney India rebranded Star India to
Disney Star. On 27 May 2022, Fox Star Studios was renamed just
Star Studios, as part of the removal of the "Fox" name from the studios that had been acquired from 21st Century Fox by Disney.
Merger with Viacom18 (2023–2024) In July 2023, The Walt Disney Company began exploring strategic options, including a sale or formation of a joint venture, for their businesses in India. Between September and October 2023, the company held preliminary talks with
Reliance Industries, billionaire
Gautam Adani and
Kalanithi Maran, owner of the
Sun Group, for a potential sale of its streaming and linear television assets. In late October 2023, it was reported that Disney was nearing a cash and stock deal with Reliance Industries for the sale of its operations in India, including a controlling stake in Disney Star. The assets Reliance would acquire are reportedly valued at around $7–8 billion and a transaction was to be announced as early as November. Although Disney CEO
Bob Iger refuted claims of a sale during a third-quarter earnings call, it was announced in December 2023 that Disney and Reliance had signed a non-binding term sheet for a merger. According to its terms, Reliance would hold 51% of the merged company in cash and stock, while Disney would own the remaining 49%. For purposes of the merger, a subsidiary of
Viacom18 (itself a subsidiary of Reliance) was created to absorb Disney Star through a
stock swap, pending ratification and regulatory approval. In February 2024, Disney and Reliance reached a deal to merge their streaming and television assets, with the joint venture valued at $8.5 billion including synergies. As part of the deal, Viacom18 would be merged into Disney Star with Disney holding a 36.84% stake in the combined entity, which would bring together assets such as linear television entertainment channels Star Plus,
Colors TV and the
Star Gold Network, sports channels Star Sports and
Sports18 and the streaming services
JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar with
Nita Ambani serving as the chairperson of the joint venture, with
Uday Shankar serving as vice chairperson with the deal giving 16.34% to Reliance and 46.82% to Viacom18, with the deal being expected to close sometime in late 2024 or early 2025 pending regulatory approval. In March 2024, it was reported that
Paramount Global was looking to sell its remaining 13.01% stake in Viacom18 to Reliance, which already owned a 73.91% share via
TV18. Although
Bloomberg News reported that the deal was unlikely to close, the deal was confirmed a week later for $517 million, its closure subject to regulatory approval and the completion of the joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney. Paramount would, however, continue to license its content to the company. In August 2024, the
National Company Law Tribunal approved a deal between Disney and Reliance Industries where JioCinema and Viacom18 would be merged into
Digital18. In November 2024, Disney and Reliance Industries agreed to merge Star India and Viacom18. The deal was reported to be valued at $8.5 billion. As a result, Disney Star rebranded as
JioStar.
Post merger (2025–present) On 14 February 2025 JioStar combined the streaming services
JioCinema and
Disney+ Hotstar to launch
JioHotstar. On 6 August 2025 it was reported that JioStar has acquired the exclusive broadcast and streaming rights for the
US Open Tennis Championships for the next five years. == Owned assets ==