Star Maa, launched in 2002 as Maa TV, is the most-watched Telugu general entertainment channel (GEC) and one of the most popular TV channels of the Disney Star network in India, which acquired the Telugu-language Maa bouquet of channels on 12 February 2015.[1][2] This marked Star’s re-entry into the Telugu market after the short-lived Asianet Sitara, which closed in 2011.[3] It competes with Zee Telugu, Gemini TV and ETV.
Maa TV rebranded to Star Maa[4][5] on 13 February 2017, almost exactly two years after the acquisition, and the other Maa channels rebranded on 25 June 2017.[6] However, the Star wordmark was not part of the logos until a second rebrand on 6 September 2020.
An HD version was launched on 11 August 2016 without any prior announcement or promotion.[8][9]
Star Maa[]
2017–2020[]
A new name, logo and look was revealed on 13 February 2017, before the start of the fourth season of Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu (the Telugu version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?). The Maa wordmark from the previous logo has been retained, but it now appears in red. Despite there being no explicit Star wordmark in the logo, the channel was renamed from Maa TV to Star Maa. The red star is nearly identical to that in Star Plus’s 2010–2016 logo.
Logo with slogan Adey Bantham, Sarikotta Uttejam (Same Relationship, More Excitement).
HD logo.
HD logo against background.
2020–present[]
On 6 September 2020, during the inauguration of the fourth season of Bigg Boss Telugu (the Indian version of Big Brother), another rebrand of the Star Maa channels took place, with new logos and graphics for all the channels. The Star wordmark has been added to the logos (set in the Foco font as it has been borrowed from that in the Star Plus logo), and the word Maa is now written in Telugu, replacing the wordmark from 2008.
The graphics package, however, uses the Cádiz font by Luzi Type, which is the corporate font for Star India as a whole but was thus far never used by any of its TV channels. Star Maa is therefore the first (and, so far, only) Indian TV channel to use Cádiz.
-JinMayajalam Mon-Sat at 3-30 PM and -ManasuMaataVinadu Tue to Sat at 4 PM on @StarMaa
Sample short promo.
-JinMayajalam today at 4 PM on -StarMaa
Sample show promo.
For Star Maa, the star symbol has also been changed (similar to Star Plus), while the otherthreechannels retain their existing symbols, but with the wordmarks modified. Kannada sister channel Star Suvarna rebranded in a similar fashion on 22 November 2020.
Notes: 1Originally owned, sold or discontinued by The Walt Disney Company India before its acquisition of Star. 2Joint venture with Tata Group. 3Sold to ABP Group. 4Sold to CJ ENM. 5Joint venture between Star and Viacom. Dissolved in 1994 with the launch of Channel V and Channel V India. 6Sold to China Media Capital. 7Sold to Visi Media Asia, which had owned 80% of the channel (Star formerly owned 20%). 8Rebranded from Star to Fox channels in 2017. Defunct since 1 October 2021. 9Relaunched as Pinoy Box Office, later known as PBO.