JioStar shuts 9 channels including Comedy Central; introduces 8 new sports channels

New Delhi: JioStar will shut down nine of its existing channels from March 15, 2025, according to the revised reference interconnect offer (RIO) released after the 7th annual e-auction conducted by Prasar Bharati for DD Free Dish slots.

While the broadcaster shut down some channels in compliance with the CCI order approving the merger between Reliance Industries' media arm Viacom18 and Disney Star India, the SD and HD channels of Comedy Central, Vh1, and MTV Beats will go off-air due to market conditions.

With this, JioStar is also introducing eight new sports channels for various markets.

Of these eight channels, two are new HD channels – Star Sports 2 Telugu HD and Star Sports 2 Tamil HD – while the other six, including Star Sports 2 Kannada HD, have been rebranded.

The broadcaster will be rebranding five Sports18 channels to Star Sports channels catering to different markets.

After securing a DD Free Dish slot each for Star Utsav and Colors Rishtey, the two channels have been moved to the FTA category in the revised RIO.

At the same time, Sports18 Khel, which did not participate in the DD Free Dish e-auctions, has been renamed Star Sports Khel and converted into a pay channel with an MRP of Rupee 1.