Disney and Reliance Unite to Create a Joint Venture Worth INR 70,352 crore

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

Nov 16, 2024 — 3 min read

Disney and Reliance Form Joint Venture Valued at INR 70,352 Crore

With the launch of JioStar.com as their official website, Reliance Industries and The Walt Disney Company announced on 15 November that their media merger in India was complete.

Instead of being a streaming platform as was previously speculated, JioStar.com, the company's new digital destination, exhibits the merger's tagline "forging a new path to inspire a billion imaginations" and is currently the company's webpage.

Following the resolution of domain issues, there is speculation that the joint venture between Reliance Jio and Disney may eventually use JioHotstar for their unified streaming platform.

Jainam and Jivika, siblings from Dubai, currently own the JioHotstar.com name. They purchased it from a developer in Delhi who first requested INR 1 crore from Reliance to finance his MBA at Cambridge University. The siblings have offered to give Reliance the domain at no cost. "We have complete control over this. We have not received any correspondence or pressure from Reliance or any legal organisation," the siblings said on their website.

The Jio-Disney Combination Unifies Two OTT Platforms and More Than 100 TV Channels

With the merger of JioCinema and Viacom18's media activities with Star India Private Limited, the INR 70,352 crore (~US$8.5 billion) joint venture brings together India's top entertainment companies. An additional INR 11,500 crore (about US$1.4 billion) in growth capital has been invested in the company by Reliance.

The joint venture will run more than 100 TV stations and generate more than 30,000 hours of TV content annually under the direction of recently appointed Chairperson Nita M. Ambani and Vice Chairperson Uday Shankar. The combined company includes JioCinema and Hotstar, two well-known streaming services with a combined user base of more than 50 million.

Three CEOs Will Spearhead Various Operations

Kevin Vaz will handle entertainment, Kiran Mani will lead digital operations, and Sanjog Gupta will oversee sports content. These three CEOs will drive various facets of the company. According to the ownership structure of the joint venture, Viacom18 owns 46.82% of the company, Disney 36.84%, and RIL 16.34%.

Disney CEO Bob Iger emphasised the venture's ability to provide an improved content portfolio to Indian audiences, while RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani referred to it as a "transformational era" for Indian media. Several regulatory bodies, including the Competition Commission of India, granted the merger the necessary approvals.

With a pro forma combined revenue of almost INR 26,000 crore (USD 3.1 billion) for the fiscal year that ends in March 2024, the joint venture is ranked among the biggest media and entertainment businesses in India.

According to RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani, the establishment of this joint venture marks the beginning of a revolutionary period for the Indian media and entertainment sector. Reliance will guarantee unrivalled entertainment options at reasonable costs for Indian viewers because of its extensive creative experience, partnership with Disney, and unique comprehension of the Indian market. "The firm is very excited about the future of the JV and wishes it all the best," Ambani added.