Media and entertainment heavyweights Reliance Industries (RIL) and Walt Disney have completed the merger of their various Indian media assets - including the Viacom18 and Star India broadcasters - in a deal worth $8.5 billion overall.
Through a deal unveiled yesterday (November 14), and which brings to an end a lengthy saga, the combined media product of Disney Star and RIL has been split into three divisions - entertainment (the Star India linear channels and Reliance’s Viacom18 broadcaster); digital (Disney’s Hotstar and the Jio platform); and sports.
The merger creates India’s biggest entertainment and media brand firm, with JioStar now in place as a joint name. That site now contains 120 TV channels and two different streaming options (JioCinema and Hotstar) which boast over 50 million subscribers between them.
Regulatory approval for this deal - which was originally unveiled in late February - has been a slow process, with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) having only given the merger the green light at the end of August. Concerns had been raised in India that the merged organization would hold a level of dominance over cricket broadcast rights in the sport’s biggest market that would be anti-competitive.
Indeed, the CCI at one point requested the two to give reasoning as to why they should be allowed to consolidate their properties.
The three divisions will be led by Kevin Vaz (entertainment), Kiran Mani (digital operations) and Sanjog Gupta (sports content).
In terms of the ownership structure, Viacom18 holds a 46.82% stake, with Disney controlling 36.84% of the shares and Reliance Industries holding the rest.
This merger has brought to an end an intense period of competition between the two companies as they fought to secure major sports rights in the country.
Viacom18 has over recent years been muscling in on Star India’s sports rights portfolio, and now holds domestic streaming rights to the prestigious Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament - Hotstar was the previous rightsholder.
Viacom18 also holds exclusive linear and digital rights to home Indian national and domestic cricket matches until March 2028.
Mukesh Ambani, one of India’s richest men and the chair and managing director of RIL, said: “Our deep creative expertise, relationship with Disney, and unmatched understanding of the Indian consumer will ensure unparalleled content choices at affordable prices for Indian viewers. I am very excited about the JV's future and wish it all the success.”
Bob Iger, chief executive of The Walt Disney Company, added: “By joining forces with Reliance, we can expand our presence in this important media market and deliver viewers an even more robust portfolio of entertainment, sports content, and digital services.”
Disney reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 financial results - including those for Star - earlier this week.
