ESPN India parted ways with Star TV in 2013, and the ESPN Star Sports joint venture came to an end. The Star Sports channels were rebranded on 6 November 2013, with a unified Star Sports brand replacing the individual Star Sports, Star Cricket and ESPN brands. ESPN became Star Sports 4; ESPN HD became Star Sports HD2, which in 2017 became Star Sports 2 HD.
ESPN re-entered the country on 17 January 2016 with rival network Sony, as Sony ESPN SD and HD were launched. However, those channels were shut down on 30 March 2020, likely as a result of ESPN’s owner, The Walt Disney Company, acquiring Star TV a year previously (20 March 2019).
HD: 2015–2017
An HD version was launched in 2015 and shut in 2017.
In 2015, before the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Star Sports HD3 and HD4 were launched. However, Star Sports HD4 was shut down in 2017, and Star Sports 4 became Star Sports 1 Tamil.
Star Sports 1 Tamil
2017–present
The Star Sports network was rebranded for a second time on 28 May 2017. Star Sports 4 SD became Star Sports 1 Tamil, and its HD feed was discontinued. In 2017–19, several other channels in regional languages were launched using the Star Sports 1 name.
Notes: 1Joint venture with Tata Group. 2Sold to ABP Group. 3Sold to CJ ENM. 4Joint venture between Star and Viacom. Dissolved in 1994 with the launch of Channel V. 5Sold to China Media Capital. 6Sold to Visi Media Asia, which had owned 80% of the channel (Star formerly owned 20%). 7Rebranded from Star to Fox channels in 2017. Pending shutdown in 2021. 8Relaunched as Pinoy Box Office.
