• By Vaamanaa Sethi
  • Tue, 19 Sep 2023 10:27 AM (IST)
  • Source:JND

Walt Disney has been holding preliminary talks with potential buyers for its India streaming and television business, which includes Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, sources were quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

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The people familiar with the matter said that the US entertainment giant has discussed a range of options with a number of suitors from a deal for the entire Disney Star business to a piecemeal transaction that may include some combination of its assets including sports rights and regional streaming service Disney+ Hotstar.

According to a Bloomberg report, Disney has been weighing strategic options for the business including an outright sale or setting up a joint venture, after it lost its streaming rights of Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament to Viacom18 Media Pvt, a tie-up between Paramount Global and Reliance.

The source further revealed that Disney reached out to Reliance about potentially buying a stake in the business. However, discussions are ongoing and may not lead to any deal, it said, adding that Disney could decide to hold onto the assets for longer.

Despite experiencing a decline in subscriber numbers following the loss of IPL streaming rights, Disney Star hasn't completely exited the cricket business. They have secured the television rights through 2027. Additionally, last year, they entered into an agreement to license the TV rights for International Cricket Council men's matches to ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. for four years, while Disney+ Hotstar retained the digital rights.

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On the other hand, JioCinema, the streaming service supported by Reliance, achieved a milestone with a record 32 million concurrent viewers in May during the IPL final, which was offered for free on the platform. Subsequently, the venture has started charging for some content after securing a multi-year deal to stream Warner Bros Discovery Inc.'s exclusive content in India.