Top Things To Know About How The Rs 70,000 Crore Reliance-Disney Deal Is Reshaping Indian Media

On Wednesday, Reliance Industries and Walt Disney announced the combination of their India media businesses, becoming a Rs 70,000 crore entertainment conglomerate.

Under the terms of the agreement, which was reached barely over a month after competitors Zee and Sony attempted a USD 10 billion merger, Reliance and its affiliates would own 63.16 percent of the merged company, which will include 120 television channels and two streaming services.

Disney will own the remaining 368.84 percent, according to a statement from the businesses.

In order to give the joint venture the strength to take on competitors like Netflix and Sony of Japan, Reliance has also committed to spend a total of close to Rs 11,500 crore in it.

Reliance’s media operations are now managed by Network 18, which also owns a number of sports and entertainment channels under the “Colors” brand in addition to TV18 news stations.

In addition, Reliance has controlling shares in Den and Hathway, two publicly traded cable distribution firms, and a film production division called JioStudios.

Key Information Regarding The Landmark Agreement

With two streaming platforms and 120 TV channels, the combined company will be much bigger than competitors like Sony, Netflix, and Zee Entertainment in Japan’s $28 billion media and entertainment market.

Reliance and Disney together will serve the more than 750 million Indian viewers in India as well as the Indian diaspora abroad.

The joint venture will be led by Nita Ambani, the wife of Reliance chairman and billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

The vice chairman will be Uday Shankar, a former senior Disney executive who co-owns Bodhi Tree, a joint venture with James Murdoch.

In addition to providing access to highly anticipated events on television and digital platforms via JioCinema and Hotstar, the JV will bring together famous media assets from the entertainment (such as Colors, StarPlus, StarGOLD) and sports (such as Star Sports and Sports18) domains.

With a license to over 30,000 Disney intellectual assets, the joint venture will also be given the unique right to distribute Disney productions and movies in India, offering the Indian consumer a wide range of entertainment choices.

Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and MTV are among the 40 television networks that make up Viacom18, which is mostly owned by Reliance.

Disney Star, a well-known brand in India, has over 80 channels and is well-known for both Hollywood films and Hindi family dramas.

The channels offered by both firms include sports, documentaries, kids’ programming, general entertainment, and lifestyle content. Additionally, they cover a number of regional language programs.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India controls the television rights to all local and international cricket matches, which are shown on Viacom18. The famous Indian Premier League (IPL) will be available on Disney TV until 2027.

AVAILABLE ON STREAM

Disney’s Hotstar and Reliance’s JioCinema would have a combined library of over 200,000 hours of programming, which would include movies, sports events, and dramas on television.

A survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and EY states that Disney’s Hotstar was the second most downloaded video streaming app in India in 2022, after MX Player.

Disney offers a variety of streaming entertainment, such as international blockbusters, Marvel movies, and National Geographic documentaries. Seven of the top 15 original series in India in 2022 that were streamed were from it, according a research by media consultancy company Ormax.

Disney currently has the digital rights to International Cricket Council matches in India until 2027, but JioCinema, owned by Ambani, has won the right to broadcast the IPL through 2027 after outbidding Disney.

In order to increase the amount of Hollywood and foreign material available on its platform, JioCinema inked agreements with Warner Bros. and The Pokemon Company last year.

The deal is anticipated to close in the last quarter of 2024 or the first quarter of 2025, pending regulatory, shareholder, and other customary clearances.

The unsuccessful aspirations of competitors Sony and Zee last month are contrasted with the Disney Reliance media merger proposal. The Sony Group put off this merger, which might have resulted in a USD 10.5 billion company. As a result, both parties are entangled in legal battles and arbitration proceedings.