How a Loss Making Channel Became Sun TV’s Biggest Rival

2001: Star Takes Over the Controls
In 2001, STAR took over programming, distribution and airtime sales while UTV formally kept ownership. STAR earned a 15 percent commission on ad revenue. It was also STAR’s first real entry into the South and into regional language television. The structure was cleaned up over the next few years. Star ended up with a 51 percent stake and rebranded the channel Star Vijay. In 2004, UTV sold out its remaining stake to Star India for Rs 31 crore. Reports from the period say revenue, share and ad rates all improved once Star took over.

2006: The Shows That Gave Vijay Its Identity
Two launches in 2006 shaped the next two decades. Super Singer premiered on 28 April 2006, and Neeya Naana, the debate show, started on 7 May 2006. Super Singer is still running, with a junior version that returned in May 2026. Both shows were built on ordinary people, not stars. That was a cheaper way to make television and it gave Vijay a different feel from Sun TV’s serial heavy lineup. The channel’s own awards, started in 2014, lean heavily on these formats and their anchors, including Ma Ka Pa Anand and Dhivyadharshini, who has hosted for Vijay since 2007.

2017: Bigg Boss Changes the Channel’s Fortunes
In 2017 Star Vijay revamped its logo and launched Bigg Boss Tamil with Kamal Haasan hosting. Before that, its audience share had sat around 10 to 15 percent. Reports at the time said the share rose by roughly another 10 points afterward, making it the second most watched Tamil channel. A Star Vijay executive later called Bigg Boss the most premium show in Tamil Nadu’s general entertainment market, and said local advertisers were coming back to it. In 2021 both title sponsors were Tamil Nadu brands, Preethi Appliances and Nippon Paint. That matters for revenue, because a channel that can sell its biggest show to regional advertisers is less dependent on national ad budgets.

Fixing Weekdays: Pandian Stores and Home Grown Formats
Bigg Boss built attention, but weekday fiction was the harder problem. Pandian Stores, which started on 1 October 2018, became the flagship. It was built around a joint family, a theme the channel’s team said came from audience research on nostalgia. A sequel, Pandian Stores 2, began on 30 October 2023. Cooku with Comali and Start Music were also reported to be performing nearly on par with Bigg Boss. By then the channel had stopped depending on a single big show.

Disney, Then JioStar
Disney completed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Star India’s parent, on 20 March 2019, and Star Vijay moved under Disney India. Star India was rebranded Disney Star in April 2022. The most recent change came on 14 November 2024, when Viacom18 merged with Disney Star to form JioStar. Ownership is roughly 36.84 percent Disney India, 46.82 percent Viacom18 and 16.34 percent Reliance Industries. Reliance and its subsidiary together hold the majority.

What Is Vijay TV’s Revenue?
Vijay TV doesn’t publish standalone revenue, so anyone quoting a precise figure for the channel is estimating. What is public is the parent company’s numbers:

Most of that is sports, especially IPL, plus JioHotstar and Hindi television. Vijay is one regional piece of a much larger company. On market position, Reliance’s 2024 25 annual report says Star Vijay led Tamil entertainment with a 32 percent market share and five of the top ten shows. JioStar also claims a 34 to 35.5 percent share of TV entertainment overall. These are company statements. Sun TV is generally reported as the overall Tamil leader in weekly ratings, and results change depending on which audience group and region are measured.

What Bigg Boss Hosts Reportedly Earn
This is the part most readers search for. None of it is officially confirmed. Hosts and the channel don’t publish contracts, so every number below comes from media reports, and they often disagree.

Haasan hosted the first seven seasons. Sethupathi took over from Season 8 and is now hosting Season 10, which began on 5 September 2026 according to the channel’s program listing. For context, Salman Khan is reported at Rs 250 to 300 crore for the latest Hindi season, Nagarjuna at about Rs 30 crore for Telugu, and Mohanlal at Rs 18 to 30 crore for Malayalam depending on the report. Contestants earn far less. One Season 8 contestant, Dharsha Gupta, was reported at Rs 20,000 to 25,000 per episode.

What About Anchors and Staff Salaries?
Super Singer, Neeya Naana and Cooku with Comali hosts are well known, but I couldn’t find a reliable published figure for any of them. Estimates floating around on fan sites usually have no source. A page that invents these numbers is easy for readers and reviewers to spot, so it is better to say they aren’t public.

Where It Stands Now
Vijay TV is a profitable looking, well run regional channel inside a very large media group. It competes hardest with Sun TV, then Zee Tamil, and Sony has announced a new Tamil entertainment channel, Sony Vizha. The next test is whether Bigg Boss under Sethupathi, Pandian Stores 2 and the singing shows keep Vijay’s audience as viewing continues to shift to JioHotstar.

This article summarises publicly reported information for general interest. Salary and revenue figures or company statements are based on media reports  that are not independently verified.