Star Sports (Indian TV network)
Star Sports (formerly ESPN Star Sports) is a group of Indian multinational pay television sports channels owned by Disney Star (formerly Star India), a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. Previously a part of ESPN Star Sports with its operations based in Singapore, Star India took over the Indian business and relaunched channels under the unified Star Sports brand in 2013.
| Country | India |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | South Asia |
| Network | Disney Star |
| Headquarters | Star House, Urmi Estate, 95 Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel (West), Mumbai-400 013, India and Sector 16A, Film City, Noida, India |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Hindi Bengali English Kannada Malayalam Marathi Tamil Telugu |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV, (downscaled to letterboxed 720p for the SDTV feeds) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company India |
| History | |
| Launched | 21 August 1991 |
| Links | |
| Website | Official website TV Schedule |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Disney+ Hotstar | (India, Canada, United Kingdom and parts of Southeast Asia) |
History
Hong Kong-based Star TV launched Prime Sports (later renamed Star Sports) in partnership with American company TCI, which owned Prime-branded regional sports channels. The channel was broadcast across Asia, including India, as with the footprint of AsiaSat 7. Star TV has since regionalized the channel with several versions. Later, ESPN joined the region as a competitor to Star Sports.
ESPN and Star Sports were competing against each other across Asia.[1] But in October 1996, both channels agreed to combine their operations in the region.[2] As a result, a joint venture named ESPN Star Sports was formed, to be headquartered in Singapore.[3] The joint venture's business in India was managed by its subsidiary, ESPN Software India Private Limited.
In June 2012, it was announced that News Corporation would buy ESPN International's share in ESPN Star Sports.[4][5] In 2013, Star India acquired ESPN Software India from ESPN Star Sports,[6] but kept ESPN brand for a while.[7] ESPN International later established a partnership with what is now Sony Pictures Networks India in October 2015, and relaunched Sony Kix as Sony ESPN in January 2016. Sony ESPN was shut down in March 2020.
On 11 March 2013, Star Sports 2, a Hindi language sports channel, was launched as a sister channel to Star Sports, Star Cricket and ESPN.[8]
On 6 November 2013, Star India relaunched its sports channels under Star Sports brand: Star Sports became Star Sports 1;[9] Star Cricket became Star Sports 3, a Hindi language channel; ESPN became Star Sports 4, a Tamil language channel; Star Cricket HD and ESPN HD became Star Sports HD1 and HD2 respectively.[10][11] (Star Sports 3 and 4 were later renamed Star Sports 1 Hindi and 1 Tamil, respectively.) This was in contrast to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, where Fox International Channels Asia Pacific relaunched ESPN as Fox Sports on 28 January 2013,[12][13] and rebranded Star Sports as Fox Sports 2 on 15 August 2014.[14][15]
Star India planned to replace the troubled Channel V India with Star Sports 1 Kannada on 16 November 2017, but the delay in regulatory approval meant the plan was postponed. Later, Star India replaced Channel V into the current iteration of Star Sports 3 on 15 September 2018,[16][17][18][19] and launched Star Sports 1 Telugu and Star Sports 1 Kannada as new channels on 7 and 29 December 2018, respectively.[20][21] In the meantime, the Kannada commentary of Star Sports' coverage of Indian Premier League was broadcast on Star Suvarna.[22]
Channels
On-air channels
| Channels | Languages | SD/HD Availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Star Sports 1 | English | SD+HD | |
| Star Sports Select 1 | |||
| Star Sports Select 2 | |||
| Star Sports 1 Hindi | Hindi | ||
| Star Sports 2 | |||
| Star Sports 3 | SD | ||
| Star Sports First | |||
| Star Sports 1 Kannada | Kannada | SD | HD Version Launching Soon |
| Star Sports 1 Telugu | Telugu | HD Version Launching on 1st February 2023 | |
| Star Sports 1 Tamil | Tamil | ||
| Star Sports 1 Bangla | Bengali | Discontinued on 1st February 2023 | |
| Star Sports 1 Marathi | Marathi |
Off-air channels
| Channels | Languages | SD/HD Availability | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star Cricket | Hindi, English | SD+HD | Replaced by Star Sports 1 hindi | |
| ESPN | English | Replaced by Star Sports 4 | ||
| Star Sports 4 | Replaced by Star Sports 1 Tamil |
Programming
| Events | Host | Channels | Streaming |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier Badminton League (2013-2024) | India | Star Sports Select 1 HD (In English) Star Sports Select 2 HD (In English) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Ranji Trophy | India | Star Sports 1 HD (In English and Hindi) Star Sports Select 1 HD (In English) Final Star Sports 2 HD (In English and Hindi) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| CSA T20 Challenge | South Africa | Star Sports Select 2 HD (In English) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Andhra Premier League | India | Star Sports 1 Telugu HD | Only TV Rights |
| Maharaja T20 Trophy | India | Star Sports 2 HD (In English) Star Sports 1 Kannada HD | Only TV Rights |
| Saurashtra Premier League | India | Star Sports 1 HD (English) Star Sports 2 HD (English) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Tamil Nadu Premier League | India | Star Sports 2 HD (In English) Star Sports 1 Tamil HD | Voot(India only) |
| ICC World Test Championship Cricket World Cup Qualifier Cricket World Cup ICC Men's T20 World Cup ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Women's Cricket World Cup ICC Women's T20 World Cup | Decided by International Cricket Council | Star Sports 1 HD (In English) Star Sports 2 HD (In English) Star Sports 3 HD (In Hindi) Star Sports 1 Hindi HD Star Sports 1 Kannada HD Star Sports 1 Tamil HD Star Sports 1 Telugu HD Star Sports Select 2 HD (In English) HD | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Asia Cup Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup | Decided by Asian Cricket Council | Star Sports 1 HD (In English) Star Sports 1 Hindi HD Star Sports 1 Kannada HD Star Sports 1 Tamil HD Star Sports 1 Telugu HD star sports 1 Malayalam | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Cricket in India (2022–2023) | Decided by BCCI | Star Sports 1 HD (In English) Star Sports 1 Hindi HD Star Sports 1 Kannada HD Star Sports 1 Tamil HD Star Sports 1 Telugu HD | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Cricket in South Africa (2022–2024) | Decided by CSA | Star Sports 1 HD (In English) Star Sports 1 Hindi HD Star Sports 1 Kannada HD Star Sports 1 Tamil HD Star Sports 1 Telugu HD Star Sports Select 1 HD (In English) Star Sports Select 2 HD (In English) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Indian Premier League (2023–2027) | India | Star Sports 1 HD (In English) Star Sports 2 HD (In English) Star Sports Select 1 HD (In English) Star Sports 1 Hindi HD (In Hindi, Tamil, Telugu) Star Sports 1 Kannada HD Star Sports 1 Tamil HD Star Sports 1 Telugu HD Star Gold HD (In Hindi) Star Gold 2 HD (In Hindi) Vijay Super (Tamil) Star Maa Gold (Telugu) Star Suvarna Plus(Kannada) | Voot (India Only) |
| Caribbean Premier League (2022–2023) | West Indies | Star Sports 2 HD (In English) | Only TV Rights |
| Women's T20 Challenge (2023–2027) | India | Star Sports 1 HD (In English) Star Sports 2 HD (In English) Star Sports Select 1 HD (In English) Star Sports 1 Hindi HD (In Hindi, Tamil, Telugu) Star Sports 1 Kannada HD Star Sports 1 Tamil HD Star Sports 1 Telugu HD star sports 1 Malayalam | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Legends League Cricket[23](2022) | India | Star Sports 1 HD (In English) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| AFC Cup (Matches of Indian Clubs) | Decided by AFC | Star Sports 1 Malayalam star sports 3HD(in Malayalam, InBangla English) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Indian Super League | India | Star Sports 1 HD (In English) Star Sports 1 Hindi HD Star Sports 3 (In Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu) Star Sports Select 1 HD (In English) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Premier League | England | Star Sports 3 (In Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam) Star Sports Select 1 HD (In English) Star Sports Select 2 HD (In English) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| International Hockey Federation | Decided by IHF | Star Sports 1 HD (In English) Star Sports 1 Hindi HD Star Sports Select 1 HD (In English) Star Sports Select 2 HD (In English) Star sports First (In English) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Formula One | Decided by F1 | Star Sports Select 2 HD (In English) Star Sports 3 (In English) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Formula Two | Decided by F2 | Star Sports Select 2 HD (In English) | Only TV Rights |
| Formula E | Decided by FE | Star Sports Select 1 HD (In English) Star Sports Select 2 HD | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Pro Kabaddi League | India | Star Sports 1 HD (In English) Star Sports 2 HD (In English) Star Sports 1 Hindi HD Star Sports 1 Kannada HD Star Sports 1 Tamil HD Star Sports 1 Telugu HD | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| ONE Championship | Thailand | Star Sports Select 1 HD (In English) Star Sports Select 2 HD (In English) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
| Wimbledon | United Kingdom | Star Sports Select 1 HD (In English) Star Sports Select 2 HD (In English) | Disney+ Hotstar (India Only) |
See also
- Fox Sports Asia (formerly ESPN Star Sports)
References
- ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine (4 March 1996). "Broadcasters Bet on Sports As First Step In New Markets". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ "Rival sport channels ESPN, Star TV team up together". Advertising Age. 9 October 1996. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ Sullivan, Maureen (15 January 1997). "Asian TV team christens venture ESPN Star Sports". Variety. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ Szalai, Georg (6 June 2012). "News Corp. to Buy Out ESPN's Stake in Asian TV Venture". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Steel, Emily (7 June 2012). "News Corp to take over ESPN Star Sports". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "ESPN STAR Sports to be under STAR in India". Business Standard. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Engineer, Tariq (31 January 2013). "As ESPN turns to Fox, expect more local Indian sports programming". Firstpost. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "ESPN Star Sports launches new channel". Press Trust of India. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2019 – via Mint.
- ^ "STAR SPORTS 1 LIVE - STAR SPORTS 1 HINDI TV". Retrieved 24 February 2022.
- ^ "Star Sports: A new logo, packaging & brand identity". Indian Television. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ "Star junks ESPN brand, launches Star Sports with 6 channels and website". MxM. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ Terrado, Reuben (9 January 2013). "ESPN fades off in Asia as Fox takes over". Spin.ph. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Chan, U-Gene (24 January 2013). "ESPN network to be renamed FOX Sports in Singapore, Asia". The Straits Times. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Christensen, Nic (4 July 2014). "Fox to reorganises its sports channels". Mumbrella Asia. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Valisno, Jeffrey O. (26 August 2014). "Fox completes rebranding of sports channels". BusinessWorld. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Bansal, Shuchi (16 November 2017). "Star India tuning out of Channel V". Mint. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ Bhagia, Raushni (23 August 2018). "Star India to replace Channel V with Star Sports 3". Best Media Info. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ "Star to launch Star Sports 3, continue sports investments: Gautam Thakar". Indian Television. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ "Star India to launch multi-lingual channel Star Sports 3 on 15 Sep". Television Post. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ "Star Sports 1 Kannada to launch on 29 Dec". Television Post. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ Sharma, Harsh (21 December 2018). "Star Sports Kannada all set for December 29 launch". InsideSport. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ Sharma, Rajender (16 March 2018). "Star Sports Kannada licence awaits clearance; IPL live on Survana". InsideSport. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ "Star Sports India announced as the Official Broadcast Partner for Legends League Cricket". Legends League Cricket. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
External links
- Official website