Reliance and Disney Finalize $8.5B Merger of Indian Assets; Future of ‘JioHotstar’ Unclear

The $8.5 billion merger between Reliance Industries and Disney’s Indian media assets was completed on Thursday, appointing Nita Ambani as Chairperson of the new joint venture. In a joint announcement, the companies confirmed that their Indian media assets are now organized into three divisions—Entertainment, Digital, and Sports—each led by its own CEO.

The Entertainment division includes Reliance’s Colors TV channels and Disney’s Star, while the Digital division comprises JioCinema and Hotstar. The Sports division will oversee all sports broadcasting.

The new entity is majority-controlled by Reliance Industries Limited, with a 16.34% stake held directly by RIL, 46.82% by Viacom18, and 36.84% by Disney. Former Google executive Kiran Mani will lead the Digital division, overseeing the JioCinema platform, while Kevin Vaz and Sanjog Gupta will head the Entertainment and Sports divisions, respectively.

Although there was previous speculation about JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar merging into a single platform called ‘JioHotstar,’ the companies have not yet confirmed this. Instead, they emphasized a broad content offering on both platforms for audiences in India and abroad.

This merger, now forming India’s largest entertainment entity with 120 TV channels and two major streaming services, received final regulatory approval from India’s antitrust body in August. The newly consolidated entity will now face competition from Sony, Netflix, and Amazon in India’s vibrant entertainment market.