Reliance-Disney merger will create the country's largest network: There will be 120 channels and 2 OTT, 40% share in the advertising market

Disney and Reliance Entertainment are merging. Its merger has been approved by the Competition Commission of India i.e. CCI. It will become India's largest entertainment company. It will also become a sports powerhouse. The company will have 7.5 crore viewers across India. Question: How many channels and OTT platforms will the new company have? Answer: In this mega-merger, 80 channels of Disney Star and 40 channels of Reliance Viacom18 will be added. That is, there will be a total of 120 channels. However, some of these channels can be closed. Both also have OTT apps – Disney Hotstar and Jio Cinema. The new company formed after the merger will have 2 lakh hours of digital content. Viacom 18 also has TV rights for BCCI managed cricket matches, while Disney Star has TV rights to broadcast IPL till 2027. At the same time, Reliance has the rights to show IPL on its OTT platform Jio Cinema. Reliance's news channels will not be a part of this deal as they come under the Network 18 Group. The joint venture will also be given exclusive rights to distribute Disney films and productions in India along with licenses for more than 30,000 Disney content assets. Question: Why is Reliance-Disney merging, what is its benefit? Answer: Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger had said recently – There is a lot of competition in the market, so the merger will create a big company which will help it to stay on top in the market. The new company will have the largest OTT customer base. Disney Hotstar has around 3.6 crore and Reliance has 1.5 crore paying subscribers. That is, a total of 5.1 crore subscribers. Partnership with Reliance will give Disney an opportunity to expand business and reduce risk. At the same time, this will give Mukesh Ambani a strong hold on the entertainment sector of $ 28 billion i.e. about Rs 2.3 lakh crore. The new company will be able to compete with companies like Sony and Netflix. Question: What will be the share in the advertising market after the merger? Answer: The new company formed by the merger will have a 40% share of the Indian advertising market in the TV and streaming segment. The new company will have a monopoly in cricket advertising revenue. Apart from cricket, it will also have broadcasting rights for Wimbledon Tennis Championship, MotoGP and English Premier League. Question: What will be the impact of this merger on you, will cheap plans be available? Answer: India is a huge market for entertainment services. In such a situation, American streaming companies like Netflix, Amazon, have been attracted to the Indian market. Disney and Reliance are also on OTT, which are facing competition from Netflix, Amazon. Both these companies can launch cheap plans to increase the user base. The audience will get direct benefit from this. At the same time, Disney's audience will have access to Reliance's content and Reliance's audience will have access to Disney's content. Question: How much is this deal worth, who will be the chairperson of the new company? This deal is worth 8.5 billion dollars (about 71 thousand crores rupees). Reliance will have 63.16% stake in the merged company and Disney will have 36.84% stake. Neeta Ambani will be its chairperson. Question: When will the Reliance Disney deal be completed, what are the hurdles in it? This deal is expected to close within 6 months. To complete the deal, it will also need the approval of the Indian Companies Tribunal. Former head of mergers at CCI, KK Sharma has said that if this deal is completed, it will be the “big fish in the broadcasting market” which will have a “monopoly on cricket advertising revenue”.

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