When two giants join forces, the whole world takes notice. The same is true for the joint venture between Jio and Disney. It’s not just a venture but a strategic move that can redefine India’s advertising landscape. As the venture finalises, JioHotstar will have the biggest library of channels under their banner, two OTT platforms and about 30,000+ hours of content to stream on the platform.
On 14 November 2024, the Indian conglomerate signed an $8.5 billion deal with Disney to form a joint venture that would combine their channels and OTTs in a single platform. Disney has always struggled with its business in India, and an ill-fated deal with the ICC worth $3 billion to acquire the television rights for ICC tournaments until 2027 pushed the company to the brink. However, this JV with Reliance is nothing short of a lifeline for Disney’s aspirations in India.
That said, one danger looms over companies and businesses looking to advertise their brands on television. People fear this venture will give the JV a monopoly on the Indian advertising landscape. The stats suggest that this might very well be the case. Together, Disney and Reliance will control around 40% of the television advertising market and 44% of subscriptions. Moreover, India is one of the fastest-growing markets for OTT or TV and Reliance-Disney, through their Hotstar and Jio Cinema app has a 33% share in the market, making them the biggest contributor in the market. The only thing left is to get Disney’s India operation back on track and pull it out of the hefty losses it endured due to the ICC deal. After the deal, Reliance-Disney will control the Star entertainment and sports channels along with Viacom18’s entertainment and sports channel.
But will they increase the advertising fees on their platforms? Well, nothing can be said for sure. Perhaps a deeper dive is needed to determine. According to data, Reliance-Disney or Star-Viacom have the top channels for overall viewership. When it comes to just Hindi-speaking markets, Reliance-Disney holds a 52% share. Moreover, the JV also has the most viewership in the Kannada and Marathi-speaking markets. So, it’s highly likely that the JV will indeed increase the advertising prices, especially when considering that the advertising cost per thousand bases in India is very low at just ₹16 to ₹19 lakhs in the 2024 IPL Season.
So, only time will tell whether this JV will significantly change India’s advertising landscape.
