Asianet is an Indian Malayalam language general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. It primarily telecasts programs such as serials, reality shows and Malayalam films. Asianet HD is the first High Definition (HD) television channel in Malayalam.[1]

History

Founding

The channel was founded by Raji Menon in 1993.[2][3] In late 2006, Menon partially pulled out of Asianet Communications, turning over control to Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Jupiter Entertainment Ventures).[2] Star India bought a 51% stake in Asianet Communications and formed a joint venture with JEV in November 2008.[4] In 2014, Star India took full ownership of Asianet Communications.[5]

Star India Acquisitions (2008–2014)

Asianet was restructured into four companies in June 2008 (general entertainment, news, radio, and media infrastructure). This move was to allow separate investments in each company.[5] Star India started talks with the owners of the Asianet channels in August 2008.[4]

Star India eventually bought a 51% stake in Asianet Communications and formed a joint venture with JEV in November 2008.[6] The joint venture, called "Star Jupiter", comprised all general entertainment channels of Asianet 8 October 2013 Bombay 12 March Communications (Asianet, Asianet Plus, Asianet Movies, Asianet Suvarna and Asianet Sitara[7]) and Vijay TV. Star India had reportedly paid $235 million in cash for the 51% stake and assumed a net debt of approximately $20 million.[5] It is not clear how much stake Raji Menon held in the new Star Jupiter venture. Before forming the JV, it was known that the founder (Raji Menon) had held about 26% stake.[4] Star India increased its stake in Asianet Communications to 75% in July 2010 (for which Star India paid around $90 million in cash), and to 87%, by acquiring 12% stake for $160 million in June, 2013. The latter move was by acquiring a 19% equity stake in Vijay TV from Chandrasekhar and Asianet Communications MD Madhavan.[5] Following the June 2013 investment, Asianet Communications was valued at $1.33 billion. Star India acquired a 100% stake in Asianet Communications (buying the remaining 13% stake) in March 2014.[5][6]

The Walt Disney Company 21st Century Fox Acquisitions (2019–2022)

On 20 March 2019, following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company, its Indian subsidiary Star India, Star India-owned Asianet Communications and Star India's remaining subsidiaries became a subsidiary of Disney India.

Merger with Viacom18 (2023–present)

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.[8] 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.[9][10] 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.[11] 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 was created to absorb Disney Star through a stock swap,[12] pending ratification and regulatory approval.[13][14][15][16]

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, with the deal being expected to close sometime in late 2024 or early 2025 pending regulatory approval.[12][17][18]

In March 2024, it was reported that Paramount Global was looking to sell its 13.01% stake in Viacom18 to Reliance, which already owned a 73.91% share via TV18.[19] 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.[20]

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.[21] 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.[22]

Programs

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Asianet

Sister channels

Asianet Plus

Asianet Plus is the second Malayalam language general entertainment pay television channel is operated by JioStar, a subsidiary of Disney India. It broadcasts serials, re-broadcasts of Asianet's old serials, and various movies. Indian Super League (ISL) is being broadcasting on Asianet Plus from 2018.[23] It was earlier known for its Dubbed Hindi Serials (eg:Mounam Sammadham) and Youth oriented programs.

Asianet Movies

Asianet Movies is an Indian Malayalam language pay television movie channel that was launched on 15 July 2012. The channel is operated by JioStar, a subsidiary of Disney India. The channel usually broadcasts movies that were previously broadcast on Asianet and also some premieres. Its HD feed, Asianet Movies HD, launched on 15 March 2023. Asianet Movies HD was the first HD movie channel in Malayalam.[24] It Replaced Asianet Sitara, a Telugu General Entertainment channel.

Awards ceremonies

References

  1. ^ "Asianet - leading Malayalam GEC Channel | TV Serials | Malayalam Entertainment". Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b Times of India, Mini Joseph Tejaswi (30 October 2006). "BPL's Rajiv Buys Asianet". The Times of India.
  3. ^ Malayalam.oneindia, (mal.) (29 March 2001). "Awarded to Kochouseph and Dr. Raji Menon".
  4. ^ a b c "Star buys majority in Asianet; forms JV with Rajeev Chandrasekhar". Reuters. 17 November 2008. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Star India acquires 100% Stake in Asianet Communications – MediaNama". medianama.com. 13 March 2014. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ a b Kulkarni, Raghuvir Badrinath & Mahesh (17 July 2013). "Interesting tussle on to gain control of 'Kannada Prabha'". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ^ Reporter, B. S. (16 November 2008). "Star TV buys majority in Jupiter Entertainment". Business Standard. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  8. ^ "Disney Explores Strategic Options for India Business". Wall Street Journal. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Disney India Sale Talks Draw Firms Including Reliance". Bloomberg News. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Walt Disney in talks with Adani, Sun TV to sell India streaming, TV biz: Report". Mint. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Disney Said to Near Multibillion-Dollar Deal With Reliance". Bloomberg News. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  12. ^ a b Prasad, Nikita (28 February 2024). "Reliance, Disney India merge streaming, TV assets to create ₹70,352 crore media powerhouse; 5 key highlights". Mint. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  13. ^ Barman, Arijit; Farooqui, Jaaved (25 December 2023). "Reliance, Disney ink non-binding agreement for mega-merger". Economic Times. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  14. ^ Sinha, Vaishnawi (25 December 2023). "Mukesh Ambani's Reliance-Disney Star deal explained: 10 points on mega-merger". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  15. ^ Kaustubh, Abhinav (9 November 2023). ""We'd Like To Stay," Disney CEO On Hotstar's Alleged Sale To Reliance Jio, Adani Group". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  16. ^ Akash, Sreenivasan. "What We Know About The $8.5 Billion Disney Merger With Reliance In India".
  17. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (28 February 2024). "Disney And Reliance Clinch Joint Venture In India". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  18. ^ "Reliance and Disney announce strategic joint venture to bring together the most compelling and engaging entertainment brands in India" (PDF). BSE India.
  19. ^ Whittock, Jesse (7 March 2024). "Paramount In Talks To Sell Stake In Viacom18 To Disney India Partner Reliance — Bloomberg". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  20. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (13 March 2024). "Paramount Global Sells Stake In Viacom18 To India's Reliance For $500 Million". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Reliance's Viacom18-Disney merger: Govt approves transfer of the licence to Star India". The Economic Times. 29 September 2024. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  22. ^ Manfredi, Lucas (14 November 2024). "Disney, Reliance Industries Close $8.5 Billion Merger of Star India and Viacom18". The Wrap. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  23. ^ "New serial Kalyani Kalavani on Asianet Plus". The Times of India. 16 March 2015. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  24. ^ "Pokkiri Raja on Asianet Movies". The Times of India. 27 November 2016. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  25. ^ "Asianet film awards: Big M's score again". The New Indian Express. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  26. ^ "Asianet Television Awards 2018, a starry affair!". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asianet_Plus
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