The channel was initially launched by N. P. V. Ramasamy Udayar on 24 November 1994, under the name Golden Eagle Communication (GEC). In 1995, the United Breweries Group acquired the channel and renamed it Vijay TV. The UTV Group then acquired controlling interest from the United Breweries Group in 1999 for ?180 million. In 2001, Star India took over the channel and rebranded it as Star Vijay. Star India acquired a 51 percent stake in Vijay TV, with UTV holding the remaining 49 percent. In 2004, UTV Software Communications sold its entire 44 percent stake in Vijay TV to Star India for ?31 crores.
In 2007, this channel, along with Star One, was launched in Hong Kong.
The High-Definition feed, Star Vijay HD, was launched on 29 May 2016.
On 25 August 2016, its sibling channel Star Vijay Super was launched, which airs non-stop films and legacy television shows and later transformed into a full movie channel with the tagline "Dhool Cinema Dhinam Dhinam."
On 25 June 2017, Star Vijay rebranded its logo and branding to match its sister channels under Star India, adopting the tagline "Edhilum Pudhumai Tamizhin Perumai." The channel is now owned by Disney Star Asianet (previously known as Asianet Star Communications), a subsidiary of Disney Star that oversees the Malayalam, Kannada, and Tamil language channels of the company.
On 4 October 2020, the channel launched a music channel named Star Vijay Music. On 10 October 2022, Star Vijay Music was rebranded as a youth-oriented entertainment television channel named Star Vijay Takkar.
On October 23, 2022, Star Vijay updated their on-air graphics and introduced the new tagline "Maarum Pudhumai Maaradha Perumai." Star Pravah underwent a redesign in late December 2019, with the new graphics package focusing on Tamil culture and heritage against a vibrant yellow backdrop. The revamp coincided with the BigBoss show, which was scheduled during Diwali.