Mergers and Acquisitions

Reliance Disney Merger: Impact on India’s Streaming Landscape

The Indian entertainment market, particularly in the OTT (Over-The-Top) streaming sector, has observed a consistent shift of millions of viewers, leading to higher competition. The merger between Reliance Industries Limited and Disney+ Hotstar is among the major developments reshaping the Indian OTT and sports streaming industry.

The high-profile Reliance Disney merger could potentially impact the entertainment industry and the Indian Premier League (IPL) streaming rights.

Current OTT Landscape in the Indian Market

Platforms like Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Jio Cinema are consistently growing the OTT landscape in the Indian Market. The current Indian OTT market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 21.82% from 2023 to 2028. Now, the OTT market platforms have started merging their entities to cater to all segments of viewers.

The potential players currently joining their OTT landscape are Disney+ Hotstar and Reliance Jio Cinema.

Disney+ Hotstar

Disney+ Hotstar is the current largest OTT platform, holding a major portion of the Indian landscape. It ensures IPL Streaming and has a rich library of international content, such as Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, etc.

Reliance Jio Cinema

Reliance Jio Cinema is a relatively new OTT platform offering telecom services and exclusive content, including sports. The market of Reliance Jio Cinema has rapidly gained popularity within the Indian market landscape.

Merger Strategy to Monopoly IPL Streaming Rights

The merger of Disney India’s Indian media business and Viacom18 of Reliance Industries has established Reliance as a dominant player in the OTT market. The merger imposed 63% of Reliance Industries’ controlling rights over the sector, displacing Disney from its leading position.

According to the terms, Reliance Industries Limited holds a share of around 16.34%, Viacom18 holds around 46.82%, and Disney holds around 36.84%, subject to regulatory and third-party approvals.

The former rivals have agreed to form a joint venture to solidify Reliance Industries’ position in the Indian M&E space and reduce Disney+ Hotstar’s presence within the country. The merger allows Reliance to control over 120 channels, strengthening its dominance over the entertainment and sports industries.

Know the Role of CCI in Reliance Disney Merger

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is investigating the concerns leading to anti-competitive practices arising from the Reliance Disney joint venture. The investigation of CCI underscores the need to assess the impact of mergers on competition and consumer access within the evolving media landscape.

Furthermore, the CCI approved around $8.5 billion (£6.5 billion) of a merger between Disney India and Reliance Industries Media Assets. Also, the Competition Commission warned Disney+ Hotstar and Reliance with a thorough notice concerning their grip over broadcasting rights for sports.

The concerns raised due to the merger of Reliance and Disney could further create barriers for new entrants, leading to monopolistic practices and limiting the choice of customers within the market. 

Ensure your merger navigates regulatory water smoothly with merger and acquisition services to tackle compliance challenges and foster a competitive edge in the evolving market landscape.

Impact of Reliance Disney Merger on OTT & IPL Streaming

The Reliance Disney merger holds a key impact on OTT and IPL streaming in India. Have a look over the mergers and acquisitions reshaping the OTT landscape and challenging competitors like Netflix and Amazon:

· Harms Exclusive Streaming Rights

The merger of Reliance Industries and Walt Disney Media Assets harms the exclusive IPL streaming (broadcasting) rights for future seasons. Hence, sports streaming consolidates its massive audience and contributes to OTT subscriptions and ad revenues.

· High Competition in the OTT Market

The Reliance Disney merger/ partnership will create high competition among global OTT players like Netflix, Amazon, Prime Video, etc., based on the criteria of offering high-quality international, regional, or local programming content in India.

· Regional Content Expansion

The strategic partnership between Reliance Industries and Disney India paves the way for synergies and collaborations across diversified domains that provide entertainment, sports, digital-specific, and regional content.

· Enhanced Viewing Experience

The merger of Reliance 5G infrastructure and Disney’s expertise in global content enhances viewers/users AR, VR, or multi-viewing options for IPL streaming.

· Cross-Promotion Opportunities

The Reliance Disney partnership further provides an opportunity to cross-promote OTT content among Disney’s international franchise and Reliance local productions.

· Increases Ad Revenues

The Reliance Disney merger presents a huge opportunity for merged brands to generate advertisement revenues. This opportunity is backed by an extensive network of advertisers and Disney’s well-established relationship with global brands.

· Exclusive Content Partnership

The merger of two ventures ensures the securement of exclusive content partnerships with big studio production houses and other international networks with richer content libraries.

· Loss of Subscribers

The Reliance Disney merger will significantly reduce the viewership (subscribership) of live IPL (sports) streaming in India. Furthermore, the combined entities must find new ways to retain their subscribers.

· Competitive Content

After the Reliance Disney merger, major platforms have been challenged to create an all-in-one entertainment platform that provides global, local, regional, and other content/ Bollywood offerings.

· Pricing Strategies

The merger of Reliance and Disney+ Hotstar mainly focuses on increasing the subscriber base at an affordable & competitive subscription rate, capable of threatening the market share of existing players like Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.

· Investment in Local Productions

The merger of Reliance and Hotstar has raised funding options for local and regional content (including original movies, series, and documentaries), boosting the Indian entertainment industry.

Challenges & Considerations of Reliance Disney Hotstar

Sometimes, the potential merger of Reliance & Disney might create a barrier for the new competitors entering the market. Further, the Vice President of Media Partners Asia believes that the merged ventures leveraging its scale and synergies against global digital giants address past challenges and strategic considerations as described below:

• GDP relative under-indexing advertising spend
• Rising content cost in OTT streaming
• Engagement in anti-competitive practices
• Predatory pricing of exclusive agreements
• Reduced consumer choice
• Integration of technology and data privacy concerns
• Price-sensitive market and other pricing challenges
• Retention of market competition and subscribers

Conclusion

The Reliance Disney merger is expected to close by January 2025, along with the pending approval of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), shareholders, and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). It represents a watershed moment in the realm of entertainment and business collaboration.

The merged unit now has exclusive India access to Disney’s movies, productions, and content from HBO, Warner Bros., Showtime, NBC Universal, etc. The analysis portrays Reliance’s clear intention to accept a merger with Disney to become a giant in the entertainment industry.

Visit our website https://enterslice.com/  and experience the evolution of streaming like never before. Discover how the Reliance Disney merger is set to transform your viewing experience.

FAQ’s