The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has flagged possible anti-competitive concerns with respect to the proposed USD 8.5-billion Viacom18-Star India merger and has sought detailed responses from the parties concerned, sources said.
Media conglomerate Viacom18 Media has become a subsidiary of Reliance Industries effective December 30, 2024, after the conversion of over 24.61 crore compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) into an equivalent number of equity shares. Earlier, Viacom18 Media had been a material subsidiary of Network18 Media & Investments Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
With less than a month to go, football fans have all fingers -- and toes -- crossed, notes Kanika Datta.
A key blow for JioStar came from an unlikely source: The Indian government's ban on real-money gaming, the sector that had become cricket's biggest advertiser.
Disney Star won the coveted IPL Indian sub-continent TV rights for a whopping Rs 23,575 crore, while Viacom18 grabbed the digital rights with a bid of Rs 20,500 crore at the media rights auction on Monday.
Viacom 18 grabbed the media rights for the upcoming Women's IPL for a whopping Rs 951 crore for five years, pipping other bidders, including Disney Star and Sony, in the auction.
Shraddha Kapoor is ready to charm fans in a brand-new Disney venture, but with a twist.
'I look forward to contributing to the next phase of cricket's evolution, expanding its global footprint, enhancing the fan experience, and working closely with ICC Member Boards to build on our strong foundations.'
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.
With 90% of the inventories sold out, JioStar expects to ring in more than a 58% increase over last year's IPL, when it clocked Rs 3,900 crore.
Competition Commission of India on Wednesday said it has approved the merger of the media assets of Reliance Industries and Walt Disney Co to create the country's largest media empire. The deal, announced six months ago, has been cleared by the CCI with certain modifications proposed by the two parties.
The venture, they said, would focus on technology and media opportunities in emerging markets. Industry sources said the focus would be on digital media, with India being the big driver.
Both sports and digital will drag down the healthy operating margins that entertainment television continues to make.
JioStar, the newly formed joint venture by the merger of Viacom18 and Star India, on Friday announced the launch of JioHotstar by bringing together JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar streaming platforms. With close to 3 lakh hours of entertainment, live sports coverage, and more than 50 crore users, JioHotstar provides compelling subscription plans tailored to diverse audience needs, starting at Rs 149, the company said in a statement.
'The whole narrative will change from TV is dying to TV-plus-digital is the future.'
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.
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.
A recent report in The Hollywood Reporter has listed 46 women as the Most Influential Women in International Film, and the ladies in positions of executives, producers and creatives.
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.
'As you're watching the IPL live, there's a conscious effort to showcase the entertainment portfolio.'
Disney Star India, bought at a valuation of $15 billion, could be on the block for roughly one-third that amount.
Could it be about clout? Given its size and influence, RIL doesn't need the media for that, notes Vanita Kohli-Khandekhar.
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.'
The merger and acquisition (M&As) transactions have picked up pace in the March quarter of 2024 with 455 deals amounting to $25.6 billion deal value announced. This is a 24 per cent rise in deal volume as compared to Q4CY23, according to PwC India report. This signals a shift from the declining trend observed in 2023, as per PwC India's report Deals at a glance.
'In the audience's mind there is no urgency to go see a film in the theatre.' 'If you pay for social media buzz it does not convert into bums on seats.'
The Indian Premier League's media rights for the next five years have been sold for a whopping Rs. 48,930 crore, said BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Tuesday.
Reliance Industries closed more than half a per cent higher after the company announced a proposed merger of media and entertainment assets of Viacom18 with Star India. Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, ITC, Tech Mahindra and Axis Bank were among the laggards.
'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
This season, the nature of the advertising game has changed dramatically with TV and digital rights going to different entities.
The 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will see Disney-Star and Viacom18 competing to sell their ad space with an eye on the estimated Rs 4,000-crore advertising money.
Disney-Star is positioning IPL as a "big-screen experience" where families and friends can come together over a game of cricket, much the way football is consumed in Europe and other parts of the world.
First up are two movie channels from STAR and one of these could be launched as soon as the end of next week, according to sources.
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.
Much of the discussion is happening at a "family level, not a corporate level". That means it is an Ambani or a Goenka in direct talks with Johar.
With the acquisition of Hotstar, Disney gets immediate access to the OTT market.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has pegged the base price for the combined IPL media rights at Rs 32,890 crore, nearly double the Rs 16,347 that Star Disney paid five years ago. Experts say that at these levels, there does not seem to be any profit-and-loss logic at play. It is more about what premium broadcasting companies are ready to spend for market share dominance. They point out that due to competition, they expect the final price to hit Rs 40,000-50,000 crore.
Amazon's rivalry in India with oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries looks set to head to the cricket field, where they will likely battle media heavyweights for telecast rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) with its hundreds of millions of viewers.
Mohan will be responsible for aligning of teams, overall strategy in this country and driving Facebook's investments in India
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