Disney Star India and Reliance's Viacom-18 have now merged. This also includes Disney Hotstar and Jio Cinemas. Both the companies made the announcement on Thursday, November 14. After this merger, it has become the largest entertainment network in the country.
Disney-Reliance Entertainment now has 750 million viewers with 2 over the top i.e. OTT and 120 channels. Reliance has invested Rs. 11,500 crore has been invested. The process of merger was going on for the past one year.
Both the companies said- 'This deal has been done for 70,352 crore rupees. After the merger, Reliance will hold 63.16% and Disney will hold 36.84%. The chairperson of this new company will be Nita Ambani. Uday Shankar will be the Vice President. This will provide strategic guidance to the company.
Three CEOs will lead the business
Three CEOs will lead this joint venture. Kevin Vaz will be the head of entertainment. Kiran Mani will be in charge of the digital organization. Sanjog Gupta will lead the sports organization.
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani said, 'With this joint venture, the Indian media and entertainment industry is entering a transformative era. I am very excited about the future of the joint venture and wish it success.
The joint venture has 2 digital platforms
In this mega merger, 80 channels of Disney Star and 40 channels of Reliance Viacom18 will be added. That means there will be a total of 120 channels. However, some of these channels may be closed. Both also have OTT apps – Disney Hotstar and Jio Cinema.
Viacom 18 also has TV rights to BCCI-run cricket matches, while Disney Star has TV rights to telecast IPL till 2027. Reliance has the rights to show IPL on its OTT platform Jio Cinema.
- The revenue of this joint venture is ₹ 26,000 crore in FY 2024.
- The joint venture produces 30,000+ hours of TV content annually.
- JioCinema and Hotstar digital platforms have 5 crore subscribers.
The new OTT app may be called JioStar
Reliance also registered the JioStar.com domain name before the merger. In the coming days, Jio Cinema and Hotstar app may be combined, which will be called JioStar. However, the company has not given this information officially.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
