Founding and early years (2007–2011) Viacom18 was founded in 2007 as a joint venture between
Network18 Group and
Viacom. In January 2010, Viacom18 went international with the launch of
Colors in the United States. The channel is called Aapka Colors. In July 2010, it entered into 50/50 distribution joint venture with
Sun Network, to form Sun 18. In December 2011, Viacom18 launched
Nickelodeon Sonic, targeting children.
ETV Network acquisition and rebranding (2014–2015) On 22 January 2014, TV18 acquired the non-
Telugu language TV assets of
ETV Network for ₹2,053
crore, with permission to use the ETV brand name. In March 2015, Viacom18 decided to rebrand all five non-
Telugu language ETV regional general entertainment channels.
ETV Marathi, ETV Gujarati,
ETV Kannada,
ETV Bangla, and ETV Odia were rebranded into
Colors Marathi, Colors Gujarati,
Colors Kannada,
Colors Bangla, and
Colors Odia respectively. '''Viacom's share acquisition (2018–2019)''' The company also owns
Viacom18 Studios. On 31 January 2018, TV18 announced its acquisition of Viacom's majority in the joint venture, taking operational control and leaving Viacom with a minority interest. On 1 October 2019, Viacom18 launched Colors HD in
Malaysia on
Astro Malaysia; every serial will be served with
Malay and English subtitles. The company signed a deal with the
National Basketball Association in order to deliver live NBA games to all of their own networks.
Attempted mergers with Sony and Zee, partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems (2020–2023) In June 2020,
Sony's Indian unit
Sony Pictures Networks entered talks with Viacom18 regarding a merger, though the discussions advanced much later. The merger was supposed to provided Sony with a 74% shareholder in the merged company. However, in October 2020,
Reliance Industries, the majority share holder in Viacom18, terminated the merger. In June 2021, reports stated Viacom18 and
Zee Entertainment Enterprises were reportedly in talks about a merger. However, Zee denied any talks about a potential merger with Viacom18, later entering talks with
Sony Pictures Networks, which was also in talks about a merger with Viacom18 earlier. In January 2022, there were reports that Lupa India, an investment company set up by
Uday Shankar and
James Murdoch, were in the final stages of picking up a 39% stake in Viacom18. thereby turning Paramount Global into a minority shareholder with a 10% share in the company. In April 2022, Reliance announced that Bodhi Tree Systems, a company founded by Shankar and Murdoch with backing from the
Qatar Investment Authority, would make a US$1.8 billion investment in Viacom18 to "jointly build India's leading entertainment platform and pioneer the Indian media landscape's transformation to a 'streaming-first' approach." As part of the venture,
JioCinema—a streaming service owned by Reliance's mobile operator
Jio—would be brought under Viacom18. Paramount would remain a stakeholder and content partner. The deal was approved by the
Competition Commission of India (CCI) in September 2022. The sale was completed on 17 April 2023, with Bodhi Tree acquiring a 13.08% stake in the venture, and diluting Paramount Global's stake to 13.01%.
Merger with Disney Star (2023–present) In December 2023, it was announced that
The Walt Disney Company India 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 was going to be 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
StarPlus,
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 In March 2024, it was reported that
Paramount Global (now
Paramount Skydance Corporation as of August 2025) was looking to sell its 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. On May 14, 2024, It was reported the deal between Disney and Reliance was approved by
National Company Law Tribunal, with the JioCinema streaming service being moved to the Digital18 unit as part of the merger. On 28 August 2024, the CCI has approved the merger of Disney+ Hotstar with Viacom18. On 28 September 2024, the Central government gave a nod to the transfer of the non-news and current affairs TV channels held by Viacom18 to Star India subject to conditions laid by the Competition Commission of India. On 14 November 2024, Reliance Industries Limited issued a media release stating that the merger of Viacom18 with Disney Star had become effective. == Former channels ==