By Reuters | Updated: August 20, 2024
MUMBAI, Aug 20 (Reuters) – In the biggest setback so far to Disney (DIS.N) and Reliance’s (RELI.NS) plans to strike a $8.5 billion India media assets merger, the country’s antitrust body has reached an initial assessment that the deal harms competition due to their power over cricket rights, four sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Below is a breakdown of their assets, including critical sports rights:
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.
* Both companies’ channels span general entertainment, sports, children’s TV, documentaries and lifestyle programmes. They also cover several regional language programming.
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 television dramas, movies and sport events.
* Disney’s Hotstar was the second-most downloaded video streaming app in India in 2022 after MX Player, according to a report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and EY.
* Disney’s streaming content includes global blockbusters, movies from the Marvel universe as well as National Geographic documentaries. It streamed seven out of the top 15 most-watched original shows in India in 2022, according to a report by media consulting firm Ormax.
* JioCinema last year struck deals with The Pokemon Company to stream content and signed a deal with Warner Bros to bring more Hollywood and international content on its platform.
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@ Thomson Reuters 2024