Asianet is an Indian Malayalam language general entertainment pay television channel operated by Disney Star, a subsidiary of Disney India. It primarily telecasts programmes such as serials, reality shows and Malayalam films. Asianet HD is the first High Definition (HD) television channel in Malayalam.[1]
 | |
| Type | Television Channel |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Broadcast area | International |
| Network | Disney Star |
| Headquarters | Kochi, Kerala, India |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Malayalam |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 576i for the SDTV feed)[citation needed] |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Disney India |
| Key people |
|
| Sister channels | Disney Star channels |
| History | |
| Launched | 30 August 1993 |
| Founder | Raji Menon |
| Links | |
| Website | Asianet on Disney Hotstar |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Disney Hotstar | Asianet |
History
editFounding
editThe 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)
editAsianet 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 net debt of approximately $20 million.[5] It is not clear how much stake Raji Menon held in the new Star Jupiter venture. Prior to forming the JV, it was known that the original 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 later move was by virtue of 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 100% stake in Asianet Communications (buying the remaining 13% stake) in March 2014.[5][6]
The Walt Disney Company 21st Century Fox Acquisitions (2019–Present)
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.[8][9]
Programs
editSister channels
editAsianet Plus
edit
Asianet Plus is the second Malayalam language general entertainment pay television channel is operated by Disney Star, a subsidiary of Disney India. It broadcasts serials, re-broadcasts of Asianet's old serials, and various movies. Indian Super League (ISL) was broadcast on Asianet Plus from 2018 to 2023.
Asianet Movies
edit
Asianet Movies is an Indian Malayalam language pay television movie channel that was launched on 15 July 2012. The channel is operated by Disney Star, a subsidiary of Disney India. The channel usually broadcasts movies that previously broadcast on Asianet and also some premieres. It's HD feed, Asianet Movies HD, launched on 15 March 2023. Asianet Movies HD was the first HD movie channel in Malayalam.
Awards ceremonies
edit- Asianet Film Awards is an award ceremony for films presented annually by Asianet. Asianet says that awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artistic and technical excellence in the Malayalam language film industry.
- Asianet Television Awards for television serials were started with this name, every year best serials were nominated and presented awards to them.
References
edit- ^ "Asianet - leading Malayalam GEC Channel | TV Serials | Malayalam Entertainment". Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
- ^ a b Times of India, Mini Joseph Tejaswi (30 October 2006). "BPL's Rajiv Buys Asianet".
- ^ Malayalam.oneindia, (mal.) (29 March 2001). "Awarded to Kochouseph and Dr. Raji Menon".
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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) - ^ 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) - ^ Reporter, B. S. (16 November 2008). "Star TV buys majority in Jupiter Entertainment". Business Standard. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ Choudhary, Vidhi (15 December 2017). "Fox deal set to make Disney India's biggest broadcaster". mint. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
- ^ Laghate, Gaurav (13 March 2019). "Walt Disney's merger with Star India to cost 350 jobs". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 12 January 2024.