Star (Disney+)
 Logo used since 2021 | |
| Dissolved | 8 October 2025 (excluding Japan[1]) |
|---|---|
| Successor | Hulu |
| Country of origin |
|
| Area served | Japan (since 8 October 2025) |
| Parent | Disney Streaming (Disney Entertainment) |
| Registration | Required |
| Launched | 23 February 2021 |
| Current status | Active (in Japan only now) |
Star (stylized as ST★R) is an over-the-top content brand intended for a general audience owned by Disney Streaming in Japan. Launched on 23 February 2021 initially on Disney+ in countries outside of the United States, Star now exclusively operates as a content hub on Disney+ in Japan.
Star's content is similar to that of the Disney-owned U.S. streaming service Hulu; it includes films and television series that fall outside of the core Disney+ content brands, including original productions from Hulu, ABC, FX, and Freeform, and content from the libraries of 20th Century Studios and its subsidiaries, ABC Signature, Touchstone Pictures, and Hollywood Pictures among others. Disney CEO Bob Chapek stated that the "Star" brand was used instead of Hulu because it was more recognizable in international markets.
In August 2021, Disney launched the Star brand In Latin and South America as a separate subscription service known as Star+, which also included sports content from ESPN Latin America and Brasil, and other third-party content. Star+ was discontinued in 2024, with its content merged into Disney+ under the Star brand as in other markets.
In 2023, after Disney acquired Comcast's share in Hulu to give it full ownership, the company began to similarly introduce a Hulu content hub to Disney+ in the United States for users subscribed to both services. In August 2025, Disney announced plans to replace Star with Hulu as its global general entertainment brand, which took effect on 8 October 2025; however, the Star brand is still active in Japan due to the existing Hulu Japan.
History
[edit]Background
[edit]The "Star" brand originated as a Hong Kong-based satellite broadcaster, which operated under that name as an acronym of "Satellite Television Asian Region", it was founded by Hutchison Whampoa in 1990, and had been acquired by News Corporation in 1993.[2] After 2009, the Star brand was mainly restricted to the now-separately owned Star China Media, as well as Star India, which operates primarily in India, but also distributes programming internationally via services targeting viewers of Indian descent. The remainder of the Star Asia Pacific business was later brought under the Fox International Channels division.[3]
Star India (as well as all of the now Fox Networks Group's Asia Pacific operations[a]) was then acquired by Walt Disney as part of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox on 20 March 2019.
During an earnings call on 5 August 2020, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced that Disney planned to launch a new international, general entertainment service under the "Star" brand name in 2021. The plan superseded a previously announced international expansion of the majority-controlled American streaming service, Hulu, which has only expanded outside the United States to Japan.[b] Chapek argued that, outside of the United States, the Hulu brand is not well known while Star is much more recognizable.[6]
Launch
[edit]Disney officially announced Star and Star+ on 10 December 2020, at its Investor Day Event.[7] During the event, it was announced that Star would launch as a sixth brand tile within the Disney+ interface.[8] Additional parental controls would be launched alongside Star's introduction. Although Star would be available at no extra cost to Disney+ subscribers, the introduction of Star would coincide with a price increase.[9] Star was launched in Canada, United Kingdom, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore on 23 February 2021, while the service was launched in Hong Kong and Taiwan later in 2021.[10] Disney promoted the launch by naming several stars in the International Star Registry.[11]
Star+ was launched in Latin America on 31 August 2021. Star was also to launch in Central and Eastern Europe, Israel, South Africa and the MENA region in 2022. Star was launched in Japan and South Korea on 27 October 2021 and 12 November 2021, respectively.[12] It was indeed launched in May 2022 in South Africa and in June 2022 in various MENA and European countries.[13]
Subsequently, the European feeds of Star Plus, Star Bharat and Star Gold were rebranded as Utsav Plus, Utsav Bharat and Utsav Gold, respectively, on 22 January 2021, to avoid confusion with the streaming hub.[14] Disney plans to produce more Korean, Japanese and other Asian content under Star and Disney+ in the next few years.[15]
In May 2023, Disney rolled out the Star hub for Disney+ Hotstar subscribers in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.[16] In December 2023, in a similar manner to Star, Disney began to test a Hulu hub on Disney+ for subscribers in the United States that are subscribed to both services.[17]
In March 2024, it was announced that the Star hub would be added on Disney+ in Latin America on 26 June 2024,[18] while its separate platform, Star+, would be discontinued on 24 July of the same year.[19]
Planned phase-out and shift towards Hulu
[edit]On 6 August 2025, after the completion of its acquisition of Comcast's stake in the service, Disney announced plans to fully migrate Hulu to the Disney+ platform in the United States. While Disney+ and Hulu will remain separate subscription products, their separate apps are to be replaced by a new "unified" platform in 2026. Concurrently, Disney also announced that it would replace Star with Hulu as its "global general entertainment brand".[20][21] The launch officially occurred.[22][23]
Content
[edit]
General content
[edit]Star includes a range of content produced or otherwise owned by Disney and its subsidiaries, including television programs produced by ABC Signature, MTM Enterprises, Touchstone Television, 20th Television, 20th Television Animation, FXP, Freeform Studios, and their divisions and predecessors, as well as films from the 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Animation, Searchlight Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, and Hollywood Pictures libraries and some films from the Miramax Films library. Much of the TV content was originally produced for Disney-owned networks and services such as ABC, FX, and Freeform. Other programs were originally commissioned by third-party networks but have been made available on Star because Disney has retained the international distribution rights.[8]
In Europe, Disney+ and Star offer local content from third-party distributors in addition to local in-house and co-productions. The reason for this is a regulation that requires a certain percentage of European productions. In order to comply with this requirement, Disney has entered into a partnership with various local distributors from France and Germany, among others.[24][25][26][27] In Japan, besides Disney-owned contents, Star also provides anime series produced in the country.[28]
Multi-year deal with Sony Pictures
[edit]In April 2021, Disney and Sony Pictures reached a multi-year deal to let Sony's titles stream on Hulu and Disney+ or premiered on Disney linear television, it also merged separated existing deal between Funimation (now Crunchyroll) and Hulu. While title begins to add on Hulu and Disney+ until September 2022,[29] Marvel related titles starting with Spider-Man films added to Disney+'s Marvel hub in June 2022.[30] This also included the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.[31] All three Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man films and The Amazing Spider-Man would eventually be made available on the American version of the platform on 21 April 2023, with Spider-Man: Homecoming and Venom, a film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe, being made available the following month.[32] Other mature and non-Marvel related Sony Pictures titles that premiered on Disney's linear networks available on the Star hub (specifically from Sony Pictures Television) include ABC's The Good Doctor, For Life and Schooled, FX's Justified, Damages and Rescue Me and Hulu's Future Man (which is no longer available following the 26 May 2023 purge of Disney+ titles).[33] Initially, non-Marvel related titles and Crunchyroll-licensed titles were only available on Hulu in the United States, and multiple titles started to be available on Disney+ in March 2024 through the Hulu on Disney+ hub.
Exclusive content
[edit]Many productions for which the local first release is carried out by Star are advertised and offered as Star Originals or Star Exclusives. Most of these productions come from the streaming services (such as Hulu) and TV channels (such as ABC, Freeform, FX, ESPN, or National Geographic) of the Walt Disney Company. Selected productions from its sister services Star+ and Disney+ Hotstar may come to Star,[34][35][36] Disney+ original series and movies that are not labelled under Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars or National Geographic are also released to Star outside of the United States and Latin America but retain their Disney+ Originals status. Disney also has local partnerships with licensors and distributes selected productions worldwide. One Such partnership, for example is with the Japanese TV broadcaster TBS.[37]
Availability
[edit]As described above, Star is now exclusively available on Disney+ in Japan since October 2025 but it was available in many other countries around the world outside of the United States on Disney+ before the Star brand was primarily replaced with the Hulu brand around the world. Star's release dates are:
Explanatory notes
[edit]- ^ Although, the Asia Pacific operations do operate "Star"-branded TV services to date, to varying degrees. Not to be confused with the Japanese premium TV network of the same name, which albeit then a co-owned venture with three Japanese partners, is now a wholly separate business as the former 21st Century Fox sold its stake before the Disney acquisition completed.
- ^ The Japanese branch would be acquired by Nippon TV in 2014.[4][5]
- ^ a b The content hub is not visible due to the pre-existing Star Channel (Greece) and Star TV (Turkey). Yet, some of its original programming are available on the platform.
- ^ Soft launch on Disney+ Hotstar streaming service
- ^ a b c Per country-specific (menu-selectable) information on Disney+ Help Center.
References
[edit]- ^ "Hulu Launches On Disney+ Around The World". What's on Disney+. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
- ^ Tam, Luisa (27 July 1993). "News buys Star TV". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
- ^ Chu, Karen (18 August 2009). "News Corp. confirms STAR TV breakup". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (27 February 2014). "Hulu Japan to Be Acquired by Nippon TV". Variety. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ Enrique. "Disney + to raise its subscription fees, announces 'Star' international streaming service". GSMArena.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ Alexander, Julia (4 August 2020). "Disney is launching a new Star-branded streaming service internationally". The Verge. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
- ^ "Disney Investor Day 2020". The Walt Disney Company. 3 December 2020. Archived from the original on 10 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ a b "R-Rated Features, MA TV Coming to Disney+ Overseas via Star Catalog". CBR. 10 December 2020. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ Alexander, Julia (11 December 2020). "Disney finally revealed the real Disney Plus". The Verge. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ Smith, Chris (11 December 2020). "Disney+ is getting its first price hike, but it's going to be totally worth it". Boy Genius Report. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ^ Ravindran, Manori (17 February 2021). "Disney Lifts Lid on Star: Exclusivity and Parental Control Keys to New Tile". Variety. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
- ^ a b Frater, Patrick (7 September 2021). "Disney Plus Sets Dates for Korea Launch, Japan Upgrade". Variety. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Spangler, Todd (29 March 2022). "Disney Plus Sets Launch Dates, Pricing for 42 Countries in Europe, West Asia and Africa". Variety. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
- ^ Kriek, Jarco (30 December 2020). "Ziggo voert zenderaanpassingen door" [Ziggo implements channel adjustments]. Totaal TV (in Dutch). Veronica Uitgeverij BV. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (15 October 2021). "Disney Unveils Over 20 Series and Films in Asian Local-Language Streaming Push". Variety. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ^ "Star Brand Added to Disney+ Hotstar In Malaysia, Indonesia & Thailand". What's on Disney Plus. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- ^ Weprin, Alex (6 December 2023). "Disney+ Launches Hulu Hub in Bid to Boost In-House Bundle". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Disney+ anuncia unificação com Star+ e cria plano com anúncios no streaming" [Disney+ announces unification with Star+ and creates a plan with ads on the streaming]. Notícias da TV (in Portuguese). 28 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
- ^ "Fim do Star+ e fusão com Disney+ acontecerá em duas etapas. Entenda" [End of Star+ and merger with Disney+ begins in two steps. Know more]. Além da Tela (in Portuguese). 19 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ Whittock, Jesse (8 August 2025). "Hulu To Become International Tile On Disney+, Replacing Star". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (6 August 2025). "Hulu App to Be Phased Out as Disney Is 'Fully Integrating' Service Into Disney+". Variety. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ Weprin, Alex (2 October 2025). "Disney+ Gets Homepage Refresh As Hulu Expands Globally". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
- ^ Moss (2 October 2025). "Hulu Becomes Global General Entertainment Brand on Disney+ on Oct. 8". The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
- ^ Florian Mihu (16 February 2021). "Fais pas Ci, Fais pas Ça et Je Te Promets arrivent sur Disney+" (in French). Disneyphile. Archived from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
- ^ CTC (16 February 2021). "Disney+ : 10 séries européennes dont 4 françaises annoncées" (in French). AlloCiné. Archived from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
- ^ Keslassy, Elsa (26 November 2020). "France Leading Charge With E.U. Directive to Get Streamers to Invest in Local Content". Variety. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ Niemeier, Timo (21 September 2020). "Disney+ lizenziert Filmpaket von Constantin Film". DWDL (in German). Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ "ディズニープラス初、国内制作アニメを4月より見放題独占配信開始 世界配信に先駆け日本での配信日を発表". Walt Disney Japan (in Japanese). 22 March 2020. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ Hayes, Dade (21 April 2021). "Disney & Sony Reach Windows Deal That Can Sling 'Spider-Man' And Other Franchises To Disney+ For First Time". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ "What's Coming To Disney+ In June 2022 (UK/Ireland)". Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
- ^ "Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse Added To Disney+ In Some Countries". comicbook.com. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
- ^ Peters, Jay (20 April 2023). "Disney Plus is getting five Spider-Man movies". The Verge. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
- ^ "Watch the Good Doctor | Full episodes | Disney+".
- ^ Palmer, Roger (27 July 2021). "Hotstar specials could be coming soon to Hulu & Star on Disney+". What's On Disney Plus. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ ""Limbo… Hasta que lo Decida", La Nueva serie de Star+, fue seleccionada en canneseries". Disney PressPack (in Spanish). 22 September 2021. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ Ramachandran, Naman (27 July 2021). "Disney Plus Hotstar Reveals Ambitious India Growth Plans (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ^ Palmer, Roger (29 September 2021). "Japanese Star Original "Tokyo MER" Coming Soon To Disney+". Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ White, Peter (10 December 2020). "Disney To Launch General Entertainment Streaming Service Star Globally In February". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- ^ Keane, Sean (28 January 2021). "Disney Plus reveals full lineup of Star movies and shows". CNET. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- ^ a b "The Walt Disney Company Celebrates Disney+ Day on November 12 to Thank Subscribers with New Content, Fan Experiences, and More (Press Release)". The Walt Disney Company. 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
- ^ Afinidad-Bernardo, Deni Rose M. (20 October 2022). "Disney+ in the Philippines: Shows, subscription fees, everything you need to know". Philippine Star. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ a b c Napoli, Walter (5 June 2024). "Disney+ reveals premiere dates and new content the platform will offer in Latin America beginning June 26". ESPN Press Room Caribbean. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
