Jiostar takes direct control of ‘Star’ brand, absorbs Star Television Productions

New Delhi: Reliance Industries has completed the merger of Star Television Productions Ltd (STPL) with Jiostar, bringing the iconic ‘Star’ brand directly under the Reliance-Disney media joint venture.

In a regulatory filing, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said Jiostar informed the company that the scheme of arrangement merging STPL into Jiostar had become effective from November 30, 2025.

“Jiostar has, on November 30, 2025, informed the Company that the said scheme has become effective from November 30, 2025, and STPL stands merged with Jiostar,” RIL said.

STPL owns the ‘Star’ brand and licenses it to group companies. With this merger, ownership and licensing of the ‘Star’ marque now sit directly inside Jiostar, instead of being held in a separate RIL subsidiary.

The move follows the broader restructuring of Reliance’s media assets completed last year.

On November 14, 2024, RIL had notified the scheme of arrangement for the merger of STPL with Star India (now renamed Jiostar India), a subsidiary that became part of the joint venture after Reliance’s media business and Disney’s India media assets were combined.

Jiostar is the joint venture created after the merger of Reliance’s media business with the India business of Walt Disney in November 2024. 

The combined entity was valued at USD 8.5 billion at the time of the deal.

As part of that transaction, Disney Star’s TV and digital assets came together with Reliance’s Viacom18 and JioCinema portfolio, creating JioStar.

‘Star’ brand comes fully inside the JV

By folding STPL into Jiostar, Reliance has effectively moved the ‘Star’ intellectual property into the same balance sheet as the operating TV and streaming businesses that use the brand.

The ‘Star’ name continues to sit on a large bouquet of general entertainment and movie channels, as well as premium sports properties, even as the combined platform builds out its ‘Jio’ and ‘JioHotstar’ identities on digital.

With STPL now merged into Jiostar, any future decisions around the use, extension or possible repositioning of the ‘Star’ brand will be taken directly at the JV level rather than via intra-group licensing arrangements.

Jiostar has quickly emerged as one of India’s largest media companies by revenue and profitability.

The JV reported revenues of Rs 7,232 crore in the September quarter, along with a profit after tax of Rs 1,322 crore, according to earlier disclosures.

On the digital side, Jiostar launched JioHotstar earlier this year following the merger of JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar in February. 

The move brought together marquee sports rights, premium entertainment content and mass entertainment catalogues under a single OTT brand.

For Reliance and Disney, moving the ‘Star’ brand fully under Jiostar is another step towards simplifying ownership and governance as they integrate operations across TV, digital and advertising.