A merger of Reliance’s Indian media, its Viacom18 portfolio and Disney would create an entity that would capture 85% of the country’s on-demand streaming service audience and about half of its TV viewers, analysts said, posing greater challenges for Netflix, Amazon’s Prime. Video, Apple, Sony and Zee.
The merger, which is scheduled to be completed by March 2025, will have exclusive digital and broadcast rights to some of the key sporting events – including the next four years of popular IPL cricket tournaments, top ICC events, Indian domestic cricket, World Cup FIFA , Premier League and Wimbledon.
Cricket match streaming has been the main driver of new users for streaming platforms in India. By securing several cricket rights, Disney and Reliance have left rival services with limited content options to attract fans.
“The combined new entity captures both digital and television rights of key cricket sporting events in India such as IPL and ICC matches,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a note on Thursday.
“The broadcast of IPL 2023-27 is now under the JV – Viacom 18 has digital streaming rights (earned for US$2.9 billion) while Star has telecast rights for US$2.8 billion. In IPL 2023, JioCinema streamed matches for free for all users, which affected Hotstar’s earnings. However, with the JV structure, we could see significantly better profitability.”
Details and image: Bernstein
The merged entity will also have exclusive access in India to Disney movies and productions as well as the company’s vast catalog of 30,000 content, the two companies said. It will also be the digital home for content from HBO, Warner Bros, Showtime and NBCUniversal.
Bernstein analysts estimated that the combined operations of Disney’s Hotstar and JioCinema will lead India’s OTT market with around 85% monthly active OTT user base.
Details, image: BofA
Star, part of Disney’s property in India, has 41% of the broadcast market in India. Combined with Viacom18’s approximately 8% of the TV market in India, the combined operations — which will include approximately 120 TV channels — will hold approximately 49% of the broadcast market.
The two companies will have 56% of the Hindi-speaking TV audience in the country, according to an analysis by Bank of America analysts. In a statement on Wednesday, Disney and Reliance said they will reach 750 million users in India with the merged entity.
