Indian media is changing rapidly and the major player of these changing times is credited to Reliance entirely.
See, the long 2 years of wait couldn’t help Sony and Zee to merge. But, Viacom 18, owned by Reliance has merged/acquired two major Hollywood companies in a short span of hardly one month.
What’s the new update?
Paramount Global, a big media company, just sold its 13% share in Viacom18. Interestingly, Reliance Industries bought the stakes for a whopping $517 million. This comes after Reliance already owned most of Viacom18. So you know who’s behind all these…
The sale happened shortly after Disney and Reliance made a huge $8.5 billion deal to combine their TV and streaming businesses in India. As part of that, Reliance’s Viacom18 is joining forces with Disney’s Star India.
By selling its share in Viacom18, Paramount Global is trying to improve its finances. They’ve been working on reducing their debt, which was an insane $14.6 billion at the end of 2023. A price of $517 Million is practically nothing in comparison to that huge sum but it means a chunk nonetheless. Paramount Global sold its publishing business last year to help with this. But, the debt is still there and they must be finding ways to get rid of it.
Viacom18 is a big entertainment network in India with lots of channels covering different types of shows and movies. But their MVP is undoubtedly JioCinema, as it can target the youth. Strangely, all the original content at JioCinema is trash but let’s hope that they improve it in future. Plus, their studio has been making Indian films for over 13 years.
The sale isn’t final yet—it still needs approval from regulators. But even after selling their share, Paramount Global plans to keep working with Viacom18 by letting them use their content.