Asianet Plus
Asianet Plus is a Malayalam-language entertainment television channel owned by JioStar, the joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Launched in 2005 as the third channel of the Asianet family, it began life as a youth-oriented channel built around music, movies and lifestyle programming. Over the two decades since, it has evolved into the network's second Malayalam general entertainment channel, broadcasting serials, rebroadcasts of classic Asianet shows, dubbed serials, movies and live sports including the Indian Super League. It remains one of the longest-running Malayalam entertainment channels after its flagship sister channel, Asianet.
Overview and Position in the Network
Asianet Plus is the second Malayalam-language general entertainment channel in the JioStar portfolio, complementing the flagship channel Asianet. While Asianet carries the network's big-ticket original serials and prime-time fiction, Asianet Plus has historically served as the network's platform for experimental, youth-skewing and library programming. Its schedule has included serials, rebroadcasts of Asianet's older serials, Malayalam movies, dubbed Hindi serials and youth-oriented shows. In recent years the channel has also become a home for live sports telecasts in Malayalam, carrying the Indian Super League football tournament since 2018 and the Kerala Cricket League from 2025.
Launch: Asianet's Third Channel in 2005
Asianet Plus was launched on 23 July 2005 as the third channel from Asianet Communications, joining Asianet and Asianet News (then the network's news offering). The launch was a direct response to competition: Sun Network was expanding aggressively in Kerala, and Asianet wanted a movie-and-music channel in place before rival offerings could gain a foothold. Asianet's chief operating officer Mohan Nair also oversaw the operations of the new channel. It was packaged on the lines of youth music channels such as MTV and Channel [V], with additional programming in fashion and movies, and it targeted the youth segment of the Malayalam television audience.
The Original Youth Format
In its original avatar, Asianet Plus was conceived as a music, movies and lifestyle channel rather than a conventional general entertainment channel. The channel planned to telecast one movie per day and a mix of music programmes, including musical shows in South Indian languages and in Hindi, putting it in competition with the Southern Spice Music (SS Music) channel of the time. Industry coverage of the launch noted that the channel would combine music, movies and lifestyle programming with a clear youth focus. This positioned Asianet Plus as a companion to the main Asianet channel, which remained the network's family fiction destination, while the new channel chased younger viewers with a livelier, more contemporary line-up.
Evolution into a Second Malayalam GEC
Over the years, Asianet Plus's programming evolved away from its original youth-music format toward a broader general entertainment line-up. The channel began airing serials, including rebroadcasts of Asianet's older and classic serials, giving viewers a second chance to watch popular fiction from the network's library. It also became known for dubbed Hindi serials — with shows such as Mounam Sammadham cited as examples — alongside youth-oriented programmes. By the late 2010s, trade press was describing Asianet Plus as the network's second GEC in the Malayalam market, marking a full transition from its youth-channel origins to a complementary entertainment channel.
The 2018 New Avatar
On the occasion of completing 13 years on air, Asianet Plus unveiled a new theme and channel outlook in 2018, with the tagline "Asianet Plus – Lifinu venam plus", a Malayalam phrase conveying that everyone wants something more in life than the usual. The relaunch came with a fresh line-up of shows: Comedy Stars Plus, a comedy competition telecast from Monday to Thursday at 8 pm with celebrity judges including Maniyanpilla Raju and Rimi Tomy; Bigg Boss Plus, carrying exclusive uncut scenes from the Malayalam Bigg Boss reality show; Labor Room, a programme taking viewers inside a delivery room; Idivettu Somanum Thadivettu Shajiyum, a comedy show discussing current affairs, movies, daily soaps and political issues; and Naatile Tharam, a travel-themed game show searching for the smartest and luckiest traveller. Network executives presented the revamp as an effort to give the second GEC a new look and feel in both programme content and graphics.
Sports Broadcasting: ISL and Kerala Cricket League
A notable recent chapter in the channel's history is its role in sports broadcasting. Asianet Plus has been telecasting the Indian Super League (ISL), India's premier football league, since 2018, bringing live football to Malayalam television audiences with commentary in the regional language. The channel's sports portfolio expanded further with the Kerala Cricket League (KCL), which began airing on the channel from 2025. This sports programming has given Asianet Plus a distinctive edge in the Malayalam entertainment space, where live sports in the regional language has a dedicated and growing audience.
Ownership Journey: From Asianet Communications to JioStar
Asianet Plus has passed through the same ownership changes as the rest of the Asianet network. The channel was founded by Asianet Communications, the company set up by Raji Menon, who launched the flagship Asianet channel on 30 August 1993. In late 2006, Menon partially withdrew from the company, handing control to Rajeev Chandrasekhar's Jupiter Entertainment Ventures. Star India bought a 51 percent stake in Asianet Communications in November 2008, forming the Star Jupiter joint venture, and progressively increased its holding — to 75 percent in July 2010 and to full ownership in March 2014. When The Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox in March 2019, Star India and its Asianet channels became part of Disney India. Most recently, the merger of Viacom18 and Disney India's media businesses created JioStar, the joint venture that now owns and operates Asianet Plus.
Sister Channels in the JioStar Malayalam Bouquet
Within JioStar's Malayalam portfolio, Asianet Plus sits alongside the flagship Asianet channel, Asianet Movies (the network's 24-hour Malayalam movie channel launched in 2012) and Asianet Middle East, the feed tailored for the Malayali diaspora in the Gulf with scheduling set to Gulf Standard Time. Asianet HD was the first full high-definition television channel in Malayalam and the Star network's first HD channel in a language other than Hindi or English. Together, these channels make JioStar one of the dominant broadcasters in the Kerala market, competing primarily with Sun Network's Surya TV bouquet, the Manorama group's Mazhavil Manorama, Zee Keralam and Flowers TV.
Not Connected with Asianet News
Viewers sometimes confuse Asianet Plus with similarly named channels, and one clarification matters: the general entertainment channels Asianet, Asianet Plus and Asianet Movies, owned by JioStar, have no connection with the Asianet News network. Asianet News operates under Asianet News Network Private Limited, an independent company, and is a separate 24-hour Malayalam news channel. The shared brand name is a legacy of the period before the news and entertainment businesses were separated, but the two are entirely distinct organisations today.
Distribution and Availability
Asianet Plus is a pay television channel distributed across cable, direct-to-home and IPTV platforms in India, with its primary audience in Kerala. The channel's signal also reaches the Malayali diaspora through international distribution, including the dedicated Asianet Middle East feed for Gulf viewers. Its programming is additionally available through streaming on JioHotstar, the streaming platform of JioStar, extending the channel's serials, movies and sports coverage to digital audiences. The channel broadcasts in standard definition, and Malayalam television guides list it among the established general entertainment channels of the state.
Legacy in Malayalam Television
With two decades on air, Asianet Plus holds a distinctive place in the history of Malayalam television. It was among the first channels in the state to be conceived explicitly for young viewers, it survived the transition from a music-and-movies format to a full entertainment channel, and it remains a working example of how a network's second channel can find a durable identity. From its 2005 launch as Asianet's third offering, through the Star India acquisition years, the 2018 relaunch and the JioStar era, the channel has continuously adapted its programming to the changing tastes of Kerala's television audience while remaining anchored to the Asianet brand.
