Paramount Global has agreed to sell its 13 per cent stake in its Indian TV business to Reliance Industries for Rs 4,286 crore, the Indian firm said on Thursday. In a stock exchange filing, Reliance said it has signed a binding agreement with two subsidiaries of Paramount Global to acquire 13.01 per cent equity stake of Viacom 18 Media Private Limited held by Paramount Global. Similarly, in a filing on the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paramount Global said the closing of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain customary conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals, as well as the completion of a previously announced joint venture involving Reliance, Viacom18 and Star Disney.
A long and bitter funding winter in the start-up world is beginning to take its toll on start-up advertising across properties. Earlier this week, Mastercard replaced Paytm as the title sponsor for all international and domestic cricket matches organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). But this is just one part of the story. The other side is that organisers of high-impact shows and events on Hindi general entertainment channels, too, are feeling the winter chill.
Sony is eyeing significant growth focusing on fewer product categories - without targeting the mass market.
Amitabh Bachchan set to star in his first fiction show on TV to be helmed by the Gangs Of Wasseypur director.
Disney Star is mulling legal actions against Zee Entertainment for backing out from a $1.4 billion sub-licensing agreement for TV broadcast of international cricket matches in India, according to industry sources. This could brew another legal trouble for Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), which is already facing an arbitration plea by Sony Group at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, claiming $90 million for breach of conditions of their merger agreement. Disney Star, an Indian subsidiary of media conglomerate The Walt Disney Company, is working on its strategy over the development, said industry sources.
Sony's Set Max - the host broadcaster of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has its eyes on the ad revenues that the Twenty20 format cricket tournament is likely to produce. The 7 pm-10 pm TV slot attracts ad revenue worth over Rs 2,000 cr between various entertainment channels. On Set Max, the advertisers will have about 35 hours of advertising spots for the first IPL tournament with fixed on-air sponsors. Set Max has three associate sponsors in Nokia, Hero Honda and Coca Cola.
'If tech giants like Amazon, Google, Apple and Meta enter the IPL broadcasting arena, it could further revolutionize sports media in India.'
The CCI has asked the companies to explain within 30 days why an investigation should not be ordered.
Beginning Monday, a slew of new non-fiction shows will hit the idiot box.
95 per cent of advertising inventory has been sold on television and 18 on-air sponsors have been signed up so far, the highest for any season.
The once-powerful Japanese major is left with little to show in the face of sustained competition from rivals.
'It doesn't matter where you come from. If you strongly believe in your idea and we see potential in scaling it up, there are people to back it up.'
'The IPL is by the biggest sports property in the country and having it will give any digital video player an edge.'
'When there is a money crunch in the industry, actors like us are the ones who face budget cuts. Not the big actors.'
Unprecedented bribery charges, farewells, separation, failed union, monumental mergers and record-breaking IPOs, along with a healthy dose of online happenings in the form of spat and lessons in customer care, corporate India saw it all in 2024.
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.
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.'
Zee Group is India's second-largest media and entertainment firm.
Why are DIIs holding such a high stake in Zee, which is beset with alleged governance issues? Perhaps they think Zee is a deep-value stock, observes Debashis Basu.
The episode in which Patil won, will be aired on October 20 on Sony channel.
'Even Aaradhya watches KBC,' Amitabh Bachchan tells us.
Fast, furious and fashionable, it's all there on OTT this week. Here's the action-packed menu.
Bollywood's power couple Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora Khan are going to introduce you to the other power couples in showbiz, and let YOU be a part of their daily life!
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.
While consumer electronics, technology, mobile phones, auto and sports-wear categories dominate the top 20, FMCG has only one entry in the list
Ananth Mahadevan takes on the audience.
Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla is the brand ambassador for Sony Entertainment's new general entertainment channel Sony Pal.
'This is a first-of-its-kind partnership in the Indian media & entertainment landscape, and this association with Disney Star reflects our sharp, strategic vision for the sports business India.'
Amazon had decided not to participate in the bidding as the company did not find it a viable option for growth in India
In the past five years, Colors didn't make any money on the show, though it had a huge impact on the popularity of the channel (in terms of overall viewership), putting it among the top three. With record sponsorship deals, this year, the channel aims to break-even.
The event will be telecast on MSM's sports channels -- Sony Six and Sony Six HD in English - and Sony Aath, the network's only regional channel, in Bengali.
Of the 23 companies, eight have raised funds after Shark Tank India.
This week on OTT is only about three things -- entertainment, entertainment, entertainment.
From Rs 191 billion in 2019, the world's largest film producing industry now stands at Rs 72 billion thanks to the pandemic.
Small and big advertisers are making their presence felt this year far more than they did earlier, bringing a smile to the faces of the tournament's organisers and partners.
'When I started my journey in Indian Idol, a lot of people laughed at me for not knowing Hindi well. I did feel bad but I did not let anything negative affect me and took it as a challenge.' Meet Indian Idol 9 winner V Revanth.
As returns from fiction fall, broadcasters are experimenting with high-cost programming and new genres to grab more eyeballs. But can production houses rise to the challenge?
