Last year, it was reported that Disney was looking to make some major changes to how it operates in India, and earlier this year, it was announced that Disney was looking to merge its Indian business, Disney Star, with Reliance Industries, which will result in Star and Viacom18 coming together for a joint venture.

This new company will become one of the leading TV and digital streaming platforms for entertainment and sports content in India, bringing together iconic media assets across entertainment (e.g. Colors, StarPlus, StarGOLD) and sports (e.g. Star Sports and Sports18) including access to highly anticipated events across television and digital platforms through JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar.

As with all major mergers, the proposed merger had to overcome some legislative hurdles, and today, it’s been confirmed that India‘s Competition Commission has approved it.

Last week, it was revealed that the commission was worried about how much the joint venture would control the cricket television rights. According to Reuters, Disney and Reliance have stated that they will not raise advertising rates unreasonably for streamed cricket matches, and that they will be selling seven or eight of their non-sports TV channels. 

The concessions that led to the commission’s approval have not been announced. More details on what modifications were made will be released soon.

With this step now complete, the merger will still need the approval of the Indian companies tribunal, which is expected to be granted, and the deal should close within six months.

When the deal was announced, it was revealed that the new joint venture, which is estimated to be worth $8.5 billion, will also be granted exclusive rights to distribute Disney films and productions in India, with a license to more than 30,000 Disney content assets, providing a full suite of entertainment options for the Indian consumer.

Roger’s Take:  This is another huge step for the merger, and we are likely going to see Disney+ Hotstar merge with JioCinema, to offer a major streaming service to compete with Netflix.  It also keeps Disney in business in India, but without as much risk, since they now have a strategic partner who understands the region much better.  Following the huge drop in subscribers after failing to get the rights to the Indian Cricket Premier League (which Reliance won), Disney+ Hotstar lost tens of millions of subscribers, and we’ve seen Disney has already begun separating Disney+ Hotstar away from Disney+ Core in terms of its accounting.

Do you think Disney’s merger with Reliance will work?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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