Disney clinches deal with India's Reliance Industries for digital-streaming and TV joint venture

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After months of negotiations, Disney has finally clinched a deal with Indian megacorp Reliance Industries for a digital-streaming and TV joint venture

Reliance is aggressively building its content portfolio for, among other businesses, its highly successful Jio mobile services and JioCinema

Disney has been losing money and subscribers hand over fist on its Disney+Hotstar streaming platform, so Eiger decided to shake things up

'The joint venture will be valued at about $8.5 billion. It will be controlled by Reliance, which will own a 16.34% stake, while Disney will own a 36.84% stake and Viacom 18 will own a 46.82% stake.

Disney said it will grant the joint venture exclusive rights to distribute Disney films and productions in India and may also contribute certain additional media assets.’

Hopefully Disney’s subscribers will reconsider their departure plans now that Reliance’s Jio is powering the Magic Kingdom in India :slight_smile:

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I was a bit confused by the reporting on this deal. Did DIS receive any actual direct money for contributing to this joint venture (aside from whatever content licensing it receives), or was it simply a move to improve the subscriber base (i.e., make, as you say at the end, the D+ product more attractive and less prone to churn by the JV)?

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Apparently not. Because this deal is the equivalent of emergency surgery for Disney’s ailing India operations, without which it probably wouldn’t survive much longer

Biggest irony is that Disney has handed over control of its India operations to the very Ambani-owned Jio that traumatised Disney’s franchise in the first place

But yes, Jio’s financial and marketing clout should give Disney’s India revenues a big boost provided its content keeps up with audience expectations and intense competitive pressure