 Logo used since 2021 | |
| Dissolved | 8 October 2025; 51 days ago (2025-10-08) (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; 4 years ago (2021-02-23) |
| Current status | Active (in Japan only now) |
Star (stylized asST★R) is anover-the-top content brand owned byDisney Streaming in Japan. Launched on 23 February 2021 intially onDisney+ in countries outside of the United States, Star primarily operates as a content hub on Disney+ in Japan now only.
Star's content is similar to that of the Disney-owned U.S. streaming serviceHulu; it includes films and television series that fall outside of the core Disney+ content brands, including original productions from Hulu,ABC,FX, andFreeform, and content from the libraries of20th Century Studios and its subsidiaries,ABC Signature,Touchstone Pictures, andHollywood Pictures among others. Disney CEOBob 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 asStar+, which also included sports content fromESPN Latin America andBrasil, 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 acquiredComcast'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.
The "Star" brand originated as aHong Kong-based satellite broadcaster, which operated under that name as an acronym of "Satellite Television Asian Region", it was founded byHutchison Whampoa in 1990, and had been acquired byNews Corporation in 1993.[2] After 2009, the Star brand was mainly restricted to the now-separately ownedStar China Media, as well asStar 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 theFox 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 itsacquisition of21st Century Fox on 20 March 2019.
During an earnings call on 5 August 2020, Disney CEOBob 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 toJapan.[b] Chapek argued that, outside of the United States, the Hulu brand is not well known while Star is much more recognizable.[6]
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 theInternational 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 theMENA 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 ofStar Plus,Star Bharat andStar 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 forDisney+ 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]
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]
Star includes a range of content produced or otherwise owned by Disney and its subsidiaries, including television programs produced byABC Signature,MTM Enterprises,Touchstone Television,20th Television,20th Television Animation,FXP, Freeform Studios, and their divisions and predecessors, as well as films from the20th Century Studios,20th Century Animation,Searchlight Pictures,Touchstone Pictures, andHollywood Pictures libraries and some films from theMiramax Films library. Much of the TV content was originally produced for Disney-owned networks and services such asABC,FX, andFreeform. 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]
In April 2021, Disney andSony Pictures reached a multi-year deal to let Sony's titles stream onHulu and Disney+ or premiered on Disney linear television, it also merged separated existing deal betweenFunimation (nowCrunchyroll) and Hulu. While title begins to add onHulu andDisney+ 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 animatedSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.[31] All threeSam Raimi-directedSpider-Man films andThe Amazing Spider-Man would eventually be made available on the American version of the platform on 21 April 2023, withSpider-Man: Homecoming andVenom, a film inSony'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 fromSony Pictures Television) includeABC'sThe Good Doctor,For Life andSchooled,FX'sJustified,Damages andRescue Me andHulu'sFuture 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.
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 asHulu) and TV channels (such asABC,Freeform,FX,ESPN, orNational Geographic) of the Walt Disney Company. Selected productions from its sister servicesStar+ andDisney+ Hotstar may come to Star,[34][35][36]Disney+ original series andmovies that are not labelled under Disney,Pixar,Marvel,Star Wars orNational 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 broadcasterTBS.[37]
As described above, Star is available as part of the Disney+ service in many countries around the world. In India, where Disney+ is distributed as part ofDisney+ Hotstar, many of the same programs are available as part of Hotstar's general-interest content, often categorized under hubs such as Star World.[38] The only market where Disney+ is available without the Star hub is the United States, where much of this programs are instead distributed throughHulu, and its namesake content hub on Disney+.
On 3 May 2023, Disney made changes toDisney+ Hotstar in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, where the interface now provides the Star hub, as part of an ongoing "Hotstar X" refresh in various markets.[16]
