Urvi Malvania reports on the restructuring expected at Disney India under new MD Mahesh Samat.
New financial investment funds, including Filmoney Global and CineNow, are entering the 22,000 crore Indian film business, aiming to establish Indian cinema as a new asset class for high-net-worth individuals and institutions, similar to the IPL.
FIFA officials are visiting India this week to try and resolve a deadlock over broadcast rights for next month's World Cup, with millions of Indian soccer fans potentially missing out on the tournament.
If Disney ever opened a casting call in India, Tamannaah Bhatia would walk in, twirl once and walk out with the contract.
Bollywood is super busy this July. Joginder Tuteja lists the movies coming up in theatres.
Cricket's inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is a strategic move by Olympic leaders to tap into India's massive fan base and commercial power, aiming to attract billions of new viewers and strengthen the Games' appeal in key markets.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup just weeks away, uncertainty over India's broadcast rights continues amid legal intervention and concerns over free-to-air access for football fans.
Zee Entertainment said on Monday it had secured the rights to broadcast the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 38 other FIFA events through 2034.
Millions of soccer fans in the world's two most populous nations may not be able to watch the World Cup that starts next month, due to a deadlock over broadcast rights in India and no official decision in China.
Rajat Jain, managing director, Walt Disney India has decided to leave the company to pursue new opportunities after a three-year stint.
With less than a month to go, football fans have all fingers -- and toes -- crossed, notes Kanika Datta.
Ranveer's revenge, Karisma's return, royal romance, office romance, biopic of a watch, warmth of a Gullak, OTT has truckloads of surprises to offer this week.
In part 3 of a Rediff series exploring new careers for aspiring professionals, Sanjay Salunkhe, founder of Jaro Education highlights how young professionals can adapt to the evolving AI-driven landscape in the creative industry.
Combines UTV, Disney, Indiagames businesses to drive growth in mobile, online, interative TV
JioStar has terminated its broadcast deals in Bangladesh for IPL 2026, saying its local partner defaulted on payments.
'Travellers are considering safer and more stable destinations.'
Colonel Sonam Wangchuk, a decorated Kargil War hero known as the 'Lion of Ladakh' and recipient of the Maha Vir Chakra, has passed away. He was celebrated for his gallantry and leadership in securing the Chorbat-La in the Batalik sub-sector during Operation Vijay in 1999.
Disney Star India, bought at a valuation of $15 billion, could be on the block for roughly one-third that amount.
Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries (RIL) is in discussions to acquire a 29.8 per cent stake in Tata Play from the Walt Disney Company, according to sources close to the development. This move is seen as part of RIL's broader strategy to deepen its footprint in India's television distribution sector. Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, currently holds a 50.2 per cent stake in the satellite television broadcaster.
Paris Fashion Week 2026 had no shortage of glamour, but two Indian faces, Esha Gupta and Bhavitha Mandava made it extra special.
The business value of the league, popularly called the IPL, surged to a record $18.5 billion last year, U.S.-based investment bank Houlihan Lokey says.
US Representative Greg Steube, a Republican from Florida, introduced the 'Ending Exploitative Imported Labour Exemptions Act or EXILE Act', a bill that would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act by ending the H-1B visa programme.
Shraddha Kapoor is ready to charm fans in a brand-new Disney venture, but with a twist.
The CCI has asked the companies to explain within 30 days why an investigation should not be ordered.
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Viacom18 Media (Viacom18), and The Walt Disney Company announced on Thursday that they have completed the merger of Viacom18's media and JioCinema businesses into Star India (SIPL), creating a mega joint venture valued at Rs 70,352 crore. The new entity will be guided by three chief executive officers (CEOs), "who will lead the company into a new era of ambition and disruption", according to a joint statement. Kevin Vaz will lead the entertainment division across all platforms, Kiran Mani will head the combined digital division, and Sanjog Gupta will oversee the sports operations.
Reliance-Disney skips bidding
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has completed the merger of its media assets with the India business of global media house Walt Disney and formed a joint venture with a valuation of over Rs 70,000 crore. The JV will be one of the largest media and entertainment companies in India with a combined revenue of approximately Rs 26,000 crore and will be led by Nita Ambani as its chairperson, according to a joint statement.
'The whole narrative will change from TV is dying to TV-plus-digital is the future.'
Reuters reported earlier this week that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has sent a warning notice to the companies expressing concern that the merged entity will effectively have a monopoly on cricket broadcast rights worth billions of dollars, allowing it to squeeze advertisers.
Assume Voot, JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar are merged into one entertainment app, and you have a streaming service with more than 233 million unique visitors. That is a reach just under half of India's largest streaming app: YouTube. 'This level of consolidation does not exist even in the US.'
Analysts have given a thumbs up to the Reliance Industries (RIL) and Walt Disney Co. (Disney) proposed a joint venture (JV). The stock of the Mukesh Ambani-controlled company gained nearly 1.5 per cent on Thursday to Rs 2,952 levels as compared to the S&P BSE Sensex that traded marginally weak, down 0.2 per cent to 72,172 levels in intra-day trades.
With three key subscription drivers -- F1, IPL and HBO -- gone, can Disney+Hotstar depend only on its chart-topping originals like Criminal Justice and Rudra: Edge of Darkness to hit both scale and profitability?
'Advertising this season will help IPL surpass $550 million in ad revenues, across digital and pay TV.' 'It should still represent a steep loss against annualised 2023-2027 IPL rights fees of $1.2 billion.'
Walt Disney Co and Reliance Industries on Wednesday announced signing of binding pacts to merge their media operations in India to create a Rs 70,000 crore behemoth. Reliance and its affiliates will hold 63.16 per cent in the combined entity while Disney will hold the remaining 36.84 per cent, the companies said in a statement.
Disney had bought digital and streaming rights to show the ICC's tournaments in India
Both sports and digital will drag down the healthy operating margins that entertainment television continues to make.
With the acquisition of Hotstar, Disney gets immediate access to the OTT market.
If you were one of those waiting for the entire fourth season of Succession to drop so that you could binge-watch it over a weekend, you have missed the train.
