In January this year, the news of Reliance and Disney India coming together was confirmed. A few months later we came to know that the proposed merger between Sony and Zee has been cancelled due to some reasons.
Meanwhile, Amazon took over MX Player and JioCinema emerged as this towering figure in the Indian OTT space.
But, the merger of Reliance and Disney India is taking longer than expected.
And it will continue to do so.
According to a recent report, the merger is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of the fiscal year 2025.
It means that it will take around a year or so for the two entities to merge.
This major business move is set to create the largest media conglomerate in India, valued at over 70,000 crore rupees (around $8.5 billion).
The process is already well underway. India’s Competition Commission (CCI) has given the green light and so has the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
The final stage of the merger will be done by transferring media operations from Viacom18 and Jio Cinema to another Reliance entity, Digital18. Then, a part of Digital18 will be merged with Star India.
Once the merger is completed, the new media giant will have two streaming services and 120 television channels under its control.
Reliance and its partners will own 63.16% of the combined entity, while Disney will hold 36.84%.
Reliance has also committed to investing 11,500 crore rupees (about $1.4 billion) into the new venture.
So, we have a year to see the two entities functioning apart. And we can say that one more year till the Indian media completely changes. Disney+Hotstar has already slowed down in commissioning new content. Other effects are also visible. Let’s see what more follows.
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