Reliance-Disney merger may take up half of India’s streaming market: Reports

A recent report by Bloomberg, citing Comscore data, reveals that nearly half of India’s internet users watched movies, TV shows, news, and sports content on streaming platforms owned by Reliance and Walt Disney even before the merger was agreed upon.

The report indicates that 46.6 per cent of the Indian market share, representing 243.5 million users, visited three main platforms – Disney’s Hotstar, Reliance’s JioCinema, and JioTV.

Hotstar alone attracted over 144 million unique visitors, with JioCinema and JioTV boasting over 129 million visitors collectively.

Streaming cricket content has been instrumental in driving the success of these platforms, with the Men’s Cricket World Cup attracting 191 million visitors to Hotstar in November, while coverage of the Indian Premier League proved highly beneficial for Reliance.

Last month, Reliance and Walt Disney signed a binding definitive agreement to merge the business of Viacom18 and Star India.

The venture, valued at $8.5 billion, excluding synergies, will be controlled by RIL, with Viacom18 and Disney holding ownership stakes of 46.82 per cent and 36.84 per cent, respectively.