Recently it was announced that Star India will be merging with Reliance Industries and the former might cease to exist after this merger. This also suggests a possibility that the online streaming platforms of both the brands too will merge. Hotstar has been the biggest streaming platform in India with over 500 million downloads. Jio Cinema, the streaming platform of Jio has only over 100 million downloads, which has increased after the platform took up the scene of sports streaming. This merger will combine the two platforms to create a monster in the streaming industry, especially in the sports streaming scenario in India.
Hotstar leads as the streaming platform in India surpassing Netflix and Amazon Prime Video with a staggering 26% off the market share. Jio Cinema stands in the fifth place with 7% market share. In the case of sports streaming, this scenario changes with Hotstar still on top but with Sony LIV and Jio Cinema competing to take the space. The merger between Jio Cinema and Hotstar will surely result in their dominance in the sports streaming market. The merger will mean a bigger variety of streaming on one platform. Disney already has a tie up with BCCI for all the rights for matches that take place in India. Also it covers the major ICC tournaments. Jio Cinema has recently acquired rights for IPL (which previously was with Hotstar), and most of the major domestic leagues are also covered by it. Cricket being the most viewed sport in India gives advantage to the merger in this case.
Jio Cinema also acquired the rights for FIFA and Olympic streaming giving it further advantage. ISL rights too are with Jio Cinema and with Hotstar’s addition, some major football leagues will also be under the merger. With the merger the platform will have an increased budget and they will (most probably) be able to renew the contract for the major football leagues like Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Champions League etc. Sony LIV has the rights for away matches of the Indian cricket team and of major international series like the Ashes. With increased budget, it is a possibility that the merger might acquire these rights as well. This will make the merger as the single dominant sports streaming platform in India with no one even near to them in terms of competition.
The merger will bring a wider variety, low cost service (with one platform instead of two) and improvements in streaming quality. It will emerge as the single dominant platform which will soon gain a monopoly over the sports streaming scenario in India.
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