The merged company, majority-owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance, would control cricket broadcast rights, sparking concerns over pricing power and dominance in advertising.
Reliance will infuse $1.4 billion in the merged entity, with the company and its affiliates holding a more than 63% stake. Disney will hold about 37%, the companies said in a joint statement.
A record 518 million viewers from India watched matches during 48-day event on TV, while Disney’s streaming app recorded a peak concurrent viewership of 59 million during finals.
Reliance values Disney's India assets, which comprises the Disney+ Hotstar streaming service and Star India, at between $7 billion and $8 billion, the report said.
The India streaming operations, which were Disney's biggest last year globally by users, posted a loss of $41.5 million on revenue of $390 million for the year to March 2022.
Disney also announced it would launch ad-supported streaming in Europe, Canada and provide US subscribers with a new, ad-free package in coming months.
Disney in India has gone to court in what is the latest and most high-profile challenge to Google's policy of imposing a 'service fee' of 11-26% on in-app payments.
Nick Jonas is not trying to modernise the mangalsutra, but his gesture shows that choices can be equal. If commitment must be flaunted, it need not be gendered.
COMMENTS