With the merger of Star India and Reliance, there will be no more Disney+ Hotstar?

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), led by Mukesh Ambani, is reportedly contemplating significant changes to its OTT offerings following the merger of Star India with Viacom18. With the regulatory green light anticipated soon, RIL is considering consolidating its streaming platforms into a single service, potentially merging Disney+ Hotstar with JioCinema. According to sources cited by the Economic Times, the plan aims to streamline operations and reduce costs by focusing on one comprehensive platform.

Disney+ Hotstar, owned by Star India under Walt Disney, has enjoyed over 500 million downloads on the Google Play Store, far outpacing JioCinema’s 100 million downloads. Despite this, RIL’s move to combine these services would create a media giant with an extensive content library and a powerful presence in the OTT market. This merger follows an earlier deal between RIL and Walt Disney in February, where they agreed to merge Star and Viacom18 into an $8.5 billion entity that would control over 100 channels and two major streaming platforms.

The consolidation of Disney+ Hotstar into JioCinema is also seen as a strategy to address the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) concerns over market dominance. The company has already agreed to shut down several channels across Hindi and regional markets as part of this effort. While the merger is still awaiting approvals from both the CCI and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), RIL is moving forward with its plans, as reflected in its recent annual report.

JioCinema, which already boasts an average monthly reach of 225 million users, would significantly expand its user base by incorporating Disney+ Hotstar’s offerings. According to data from Sensor Tower, Disney+ Hotstar had 333 million monthly active users in Q4 of 2023. However, the platform has seen a decline in paid subscribers, dropping to 35.5 million by June, a steep fall from its peak of 61 million when it hosted major content such as HBO series and the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The potential merger aligns with RIL’s previous strategic moves, such as merging its Voot platforms under the JioCinema brand and transferring JioCinema to Viacom18 through an NCLT-approved scheme. This scheme included a significant fund infusion from RIL and Bodhi Tree Systems into Viacom18.

If the merger proceeds, JioCinema could emerge as India’s leading OTT platform, offering a vast array of content, including over 125,000 hours of entertainment, sports, and Hollywood programming. The platform would also secure broadcasting rights for key cricket events, such as the IPL, and content from major studios like Disney, HBO, NBCUniversal, and Paramount Global. With such an extensive offering, JioCinema would not only dominate the Indian market but also pose a formidable challenge to global giants like YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video in both the advertising and subscription video on demand segments.