Jio Hotstar website (jiohotstar.com) domain has been transferred to Reliance-owned Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd. The updated WHOIS record confirms that Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd is the new owner of the domain.
This domain is associated with the merger branding of India's two largest entertainment and telecom companies Reliance Jio and Disney+ Hotstar. Actually, a Delhi-based app developer had bought the Jio Hotstar domain and had demanded £93,345 (about Rs 94 lakh) from Reliance in exchange for giving the domain.
When Reliance did not accept the demand, the developer sold the domain to two children living in Dubai. After that both the children had said that they will transfer this domain to Reliance Jio for free, they do not want any money for this. The app developer had purchased the domain in 2023 when JioCinema-Hotstar merger talks had just begun.
The WHOIS data of the domain was last updated on December 2.
WHOIS data also revealed that the domain is owned by Mukesh Ambani-owned Viacom 18, registered on September 20, 2023 and valid till September 20, 2026, with the last update recorded on December 2, 2024 Is. The registrar, administrative and technical contact for jiohotstar.com is listed as Manish Painuli, representing Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd.
Reliance-Disney merger happened 20 days ago
20 days ago, on November 14, the merger of Disney Star India and Reliance's Viacom-18 took place. It also includes Disney Hotstar and Jio Cinema. After this merger, it has become the largest entertainment network in the country. Disney-Reliance Entertainment now has 75 crore viewers with 2 over the top i.e., OTT and 120 channels. Reliance has invested Rs 11,500 crore for this joint venture. The merger process was going on for the last one year.
While issuing the statement, both the companies had said- 'This deal has been done for Rs 70,352 crore. Reliance will hold 63.16% stake and Disney will hold 36.84% stake in the company formed after the merger. The chairperson of this new company will be Nita Ambani. The vice chairperson will be Uday Shankar. These will give strategic guidance to the company.
What is a domain?
In the Internet world, a domain is the address of a Website, which is used to make the website accessible on the Internet. It is also the unique identifier of the website, through which users can access the website by browsing the web. The domain has two parts. It consists of a top-level domain (TLD) and a second-level domain (SLD).
- TLD – This is the topmost part of the domain and indicates the type of website or the address of the corresponding republic. Like- .com (commercial), .org (organization), .net (network), .gov (government) and .edu (educational) etc.
- SLD- It comes below the top-level domain and is the special name of the website. For example, Frontpage Insights is an SLD when it comes to Frontpage Insights.com.
Graphics Source: VaskarAssets
