Disney is reportedly in talks with Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries and other potential buyers to sell its streaming and television business in India. As per Economic Times, the US-based entertainment conglomerate has been considering deals ranging from total sale of Disney Star business to partial transactions of assets such as sports rights and streaming service Disney+ Hotstar.
This comes, after Disney lost its streaming services right of the Indian Premier League tournament to Viacom18 Media.
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The report also mentioned that the talks are still going on and that the company could hold on to its assets for longer. Disney Star has seen reduced subscriber numbers after losing rights to stream the Indian Premier Leagues cricket tournament. An acquisition by Reliance would bolster its portfolio that includes the rapidly expanding JioCinema.
Though Disney Star has seen declining subscriber numbers after losing the IPL streaming rights, it hasn’t ceded the entire cricket business, securing the television rights through 2027. Last year it agreed to license the TV rights for International Cricket Council men’s matches to ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. for four years, with Disney+ Hotstar retaining the digital rights.
Meanwhile, JioCinema recorded a total of 32 million concurrent viewers in May for the IPL final which was free to watch. However after signing a multi-year pact to stream Warner Bros Discovery Inc.’s exclusive content in India, the platform has begun charging for those content