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).
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.
Shraddha Kapoor is ready to charm fans in a brand-new Disney venture, but with a twist.
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.
'Salman is not interested in acting.'
'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.'
Media rights for the Indian cricket team is always a prized scalp and it was Viacom18 who bagged the deal on Thursday to broadcast India's home matches for the 2023-28 cycle.
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.
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.
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.
Raghav Bahl, MD of TV18 Group, said the production, distribution and other labels will get transferred to the JV.
'As you're watching the IPL live, there's a conscious effort to showcase the entertainment portfolio.'
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.
Share prices of Nestle India, Asian Paints, Bandhan Bank, Tata Technologies, AU Small Finance Bank and Avenue Supermarts, all a part of the BSE 500 index, have hit their respective 52-week lows on the BSE in Thursday's intra-day trade after a sharp correction in the equity markets.
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.
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.
As per the ED, a website was engaged in unauthorised online betting in various sports including tennis, cricket, soccer, basketball, badminton and boxing, and live-streamed Indian Premier League matches without any permission.
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.
'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.'
Despite having been in India for about 15 years and owning channels like MTV ,VHI and Nickelodeon, Viacom (CY2006 revenues $11.5bn) hasn't had much success. It's now joining hands with the TV18 group, a strong player in the news genre.
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.
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.
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.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The 50:50 venture is likely to be signed on Tuesday during the visit of Viacom CEO and President Phillipe P Dauman, who is arriving in India late on Monday, industry sources said.
Both sports and digital will drag down the healthy operating margins that entertainment television continues to make.
As group CEO, Sudhanshu Vats' job is to steer the television (Colors, Nick, Sonic, MTV, etc) and film businesses of Viacom18 Media.
Could it be about clout? Given its size and influence, RIL doesn't need the media for that, notes Vanita Kohli-Khandekhar.
Media conglomerate TV18 Group entered into an agreement with US major Viacom on Tuesday to float a general entertainment joint venture in India.
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.
TV18 and Viacom18 on Tuesday announced a 50:50 joint venture, IndiaCast, to create a platform to distribute nearly 57 channels.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Another key sponsor of the Wharton Indian Economic Forum has pulled out of the prestigious annual meet in the wake of the organiser's decision to cancel a key-note address by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
'The whole narrative will change from TV is dying to TV-plus-digital is the future.'
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in India have moved into the slow lane, dropping 43 per cent in terms of deal value to touch $13.37 billion since January this year to date, compared to the same period in the last year. According to data sourced from Bloomberg, Indian companies reported deal value worth $23.5 billion between January and March 22, 2023. Data Infrastructure Trust's acquisition of American Tower Corporation's India telecom towers business for $2.5 billion was the top deal for the ongoing quarter so far, followed by the Highway Infrastructure Trust's acquisition of PNC Infratech's road projects for $1.08 billion.
This season, the nature of the advertising game has changed dramatically with TV and digital rights going to different entities.
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