Star Vijay

:For the version of the channel in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, see Vijay TV (Asia).
Star Vijay, also known as Vijay TV, is the flagship Tamil-language entertainment channel of the Disney Star network and among the oldest private Tamil TV channels in India. (Only Sun TV is older.) Launched in 1994, it changed hands several times before being partly acquired by Star (owned by the then-News Corporation) in 2001; Star has since acquired the entirety of the channel.
Star Vijay’s biggest competitors are Sun TV and Zee Tamil, as well as Raj TV and Jaya TV in earlier years. Star Vijay was the network’s only Tamil channel until 2016, when Vijay Super was launched; also, Star Sports 1 Tamil was launched in 2017, and Vijay Music in 2020.
== Golden Eagle Communication (GEC) ==
=== 1994–1995 ===
The channel was launched in 1994 as Golden Eagle Communication.
== Vijay TV (before acquisition by Star) ==
=== 1995–1999 ===
Golden Eagle Communication was acquired by the United Breweries group in 1995. It was named Vijay TV after its chairman, the liquor baron Vijay Mallya.
* India Today
=== 1999–2001 ===
UTV bought the channel in 1998, rebranding it the following year.
* Indiantelevision
== Star Vijay ==
=== 2001–2017 ===
In 2001, Star acquired 51% of Vijay TV, with 49% remaining with UTV. Star bought out UTV’s stake in 2004. Vijay TV rebranded on 1 October 2001 with a new logo and look.
* Indiantelevision (1 and 2 [fourth paragraph])
This was Star’s first regional-language television channel; the next Star regional channels came through the acquisition of the Asianet network in 2008 and the launch of Star Jalsha and Star Pravah the same year.
* Indiantelevision
Vijay TV Old LOGO.png|Alternate logo similar to Xing Kong, used until 2005.
==== HD: 2016–2017 ====
An HD feed was launched on 29 May 2016, a few weeks after Star Jalsha HD and Jalsha Movies HD (on 14 April) and Star Pravah HD (on 1 May) had been launched. The HD logo was unlike the initial logo of Hindi movie channel Star Gold HD in 2011, as it did not have the word HD at the same size as the rectangular shape.1
* Indiantelevision
=== 2017–present (India) ===
On the night of 25 June 2017, before the inaugural season of Bigg Boss Tamil,2 Star Vijay changed its logo for the first time in 16 years. The word Vijay is now written in Tamil, analogous to Star Suvarna, Jalsha and Pravah. However, the Star wordmark is absent. Earlier that day, Maa Movies, Maa Music and Maa Gold had rebranded using the Star prefix, introducing new logos and, in the case of Star Maa Movies, an HD feed.
* Best Media Info
Star Vijay 2017 Social Avatar.jpg|Social media avatar: logo against blue background.
File:Star vijay hd clean.png|Version of the logo used in the HD simulcast.
Star Vijay 2017 logo.jpeg|Logo against graphic elements.
A new graphics package was introduced that consists of orange-and-maroon floral shapes against a blue background. Kohinoor, the main corporate font of the Star network since 2011, became the on-screen typeface in English and Tamil; it has since been introduced by Star Plus and Star Jalsha when they rebranded. As with recent rebrands of the Star network since 2017, the graphics were designed in-house, with no credit given.
* Snaps of the new graphics 
Star Vijay HD 2017-0.png|HD logo against blue background.
Star Vijay HD 2017.png
Star Vijay Logo Ident 2017
Vijay TV logo transformation
Vijay HD new logo
Star Vijay - New Ident (2017–present)
Star Vijay was the last channel to drop the old logo scheme of the Star network (the name of the channel next to the Star logo icon, contained within a rectangle with two opposite corners rounded) that had been used throughout the 2000s. The penultimate channel to move away from that logo scheme was Star Utsav in January 2015, as all other Star channels had done so much before then.
Star Vijay 2017 Edhilum Pudhumai, Tamizhin Perumai.jpg|Facebook cover image with slogan Edhilum Pudhumai, Tamizhin Perumai (roughly, Innovation and Tamil Pride).
== Vijay TV ==
=== 2021–present (MENA and APAC) ===
:See the main Vijay TV (Asia) page.
On 22 January 2021, Star Vijay in the Middle East and Southeast Asia rebranded to simply Vijay TV, on the same day that Star Plus, Star Gold and Star Bharat in the UK and Europe rebranded to Utsav Plus, Utsav Gold and Utsav Bharat.
== Footnotes ==
# Star Gold was the only other channel to launch an HD feed while using the previous logo scheme of the Star network that had been in use for most of the 2000s.
# Bigg Boss is the Indian version of Big Brother.
Category:Star TV Network
Category:Television channels in India
Category:Tamil-language television channels in India
Category:Entertainment television channels in India
Category:The Walt Disney Company
Category:Disney
Category:Chennai
Category:Tamil Nadu
Category:1995
Category:2001
Category:2017
Category:Television channels