NEWS: Disney+ Announces Plans to MERGE With Streaming Company in India

For a while now, we’ve been watching Disney make major decisions about its streaming business.

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Disney+ has been pretty popular in the US ever since it launched in 2019, but it has certainly had its ups and downs due to the global pandemic. Disney’s streaming business in international countries has had a rough go of it in the past couple of years, particularly in India. But now the company has a solution!

Reuters reports that Disney and Reliance will be merging their India TV and streaming media assets. This will create an $8.5 billion media “entertainment juggernaut.”

Reliance is led by led by Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, and it will invest $1.4 billion into the venture. Reliance and its affiliates will own more than 63% stake, with Disney owning the remainder. This merger values Disney’s Indian business right around $3 billion, which is significantly lower than the roughly $15 billion value it had when Disney paid for it in the 2019 Fox deal.

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Altogether, Reliance and Disney will have 120 TV channels and two streaming platforms, plus the rights to show cricket on TV and streaming. That could be a big help in a country that has a massive following for the sport.

Back in October 2023, it was rumored that Disney was in talks to sell its India streaming assets. Disney+ had seen a significant decline in subscribers, and Disney had been struggling overall due to the loss of streaming rights for air cricket.

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We’ll be interested to see if this business venture improves Disney’s subscriber numbers, and how this change is reflected in the next earnings report. We’ll keep you updated with the latest.