CCI has approved the merger of Reliance and Disney.
Walt Disney and Reliance Industries have received CCI approval for the merger of their Indian media assets worth $8.5 billion. Following which it came very close to becoming the largest entertainment company in India, CCI approved this merger with the amendments proposed by both parties. Recently, the regulator had raised concerns over this deal. Following which CCI asked both parties to respond on the matter. We also tell you what kind of details have emerged after the approval given by the Commission.
Information published in X
In a statement posted on Twitter, the Competition Commission of India said the regulator has approved the proposed combination of Reliance Industries Limited, Viacom18 Media Private Limited, Digital 18 Media Limited, Star India Private Limited and Star Television Productions Limited with some modifications.
The merger was announced earlier this year. Once the agreement is implemented, the resulting company will become the largest media company in the country. CCI has not provided any information on the voluntary changes made by both parties to the original agreement.
read this too
Under the deal, Reliance and its affiliated units will hold a 63.16 percent stake in the combined media company. Walt Disney will own the remaining 36.84 percent. The media company formed after the merger will have 120 television channels in addition to two streaming services.
CCI had expressed its concern
Before giving its approval, CCI had raised many questions about this deal. According to the information, these questions were regarding the cricket broadcasting rights and OTT voting competition of the proposed joint venture. As per the rules, CCI has to approve the order within 30 calendar days of informing the regulator about the merger. However, the Commission has the power to conduct in-depth investigations to identify potential anti-competitive issues. A wide public consultation is being held on the matter.
The joint venture will dominate television
- Reliance-owned Viacom18 has 40 television channels, including Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and MTV.
- Disney Star has around 80 channels and the brand is known for Hindi family dramas and Hollywood movies.
- Viacom18 holds the television rights for domestic and international cricket matches operated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Disney has the television rights for the popular Indian Premier League (IPL) until 2027.
- Both companies’ channels cover general entertainment, sports, children’s television, documentaries and lifestyle programmes. They also cover many regional language programmes.
There will also be dominance in OTT
- Disney has the digital rights to International Cricket Council matches in India till 2027, while Ambani’s Jio Cinema now has the IPL streaming rights till 2027 after beating Disney.
- Reliance’s Jio Cinema and Disney’s Hotstar will have a combined library of over 200,000 hours of content including TV dramas, movies and sports shows.
- According to a report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and EY, Disney’s Hotstar was the second most downloaded video streaming app in India in 2022 after MX Player.
- Disney’s streaming content includes global blockbusters, Marvel Universe films and National Geographic documentaries. According to a report by media consultancy Ormax, it streamed seven of the top 15 most-watched original shows in India in 2022.
- Jio Cinema last year signed a deal with The Pokemon Company to stream content and inked a deal with Warner Bros. to bring more international and Hollywood content to its platform.
