Disney, Reliance overcome cricket concerns to win approval from CCI for $8.5 bn merger
Bengaluru, August 28
Walt Disney Co and Reliance Industries won approval on Wednesday for an $8.5 billion merger of their Indian media assets after assuaging regulatory worries about their grip on broadcasting rights for cricket, the nation’s favourite sport.
India’s Competition Commission (CCI) said the deal had been approved subject to some modifications.
The antitrust watchdog had expressed concern that a merged entity would control most cricket rights for TV and streaming in India, and could hurt advertisers.
Media assets after deal
TELEVISION
- Viacom18, majority owned by Reliance, has 40 television channels, including Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and MTV.
- Disney Star, a household name in India, has about 80 channels and the brand is known for Hindi family dramas as well as Hollywood movies.
- Viacom18 has the TV rights for domestic and international cricket matches run by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Disney has TV rights for the popular Indian Premier League (IPL) until 2027.
STREAMING
- Disney has the digital rights for International Cricket Council’s matches in India until 2027, while Ambani’s JioCinema now has the streaming rights for IPL until 2027 after outbidding Disney.
- Reliance’s JioCinema and Disney’s Hotstar would have a combined library of 200,000 plus hours of content that includes movies & sport events.
Top rivals
- ZEE ENTERTAINMENT
- SONY INDIA
- NETFLIX
- AMAZON PRIME
The merger will create India’s biggest entertainment player to compete with Sony, Netflix and Amazon with 120 TV channels and two streaming services.
Reliance and Disney have spent roughly $9.5 billion in recent years for TV and streaming rights for the world’s richest cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, the International Cricket Council’s matches such as the one-day and T20 World Cups, and matches organised by the Indian cricket board.
To get the merger over the line, the two companies have offered concessions to the CCI, including a commitment to not raise advertising rates unreasonably for streamed cricket matches, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
They also pledged not to bundle and sell advertising slots for different cricket tournaments, the source added. The CCI said in a statement it “approves the proposed combination”, without giving any more details.
Both companies have offered free viewing of matches over the years to attract users to their streaming platforms in the hope they will then buy subscriptions.
Media agency GroupM estimates that companies spent nearly $2 billion in India in 2023 on sports industry related sponsorship, endorsement and media, with cricket accounting for 87% of the spend.
