Reliance, Disney give CCI assurance on cricket rights: report

Reliance, Disney give CCI assurance on cricket rights: report

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Reliance Industries Limited and Walt Disney announced a merger in February this year. If approved by authorities, this merger will create India's largest media company with 120 TV channels and two streaming services, including Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema. Both companies have reportedly assured CCI (Competition Commission of India) that their merger will not impact advertisers. Walt Disney has the TV rights for IPL and India international cricket matches in select regions, while JioCinema has the rights for digital streaming of the IPL and home cricket matches.

According to Reuters, both companies told the CCI that they acquired these cricket rights separately through a competitive auction. Furthermore, in the future, other companies will again be given the right to bid for these rights to maintain a level playing field. CCI is currently reviewing Walt Disney and Reliance Industries' submission.

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It may take several weeks for approval from CCI. The merger will allow both companies to share resources and reach customers on a deeper level in the country. JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar are two of the biggest OTT (over-the-top) platforms in the country with a growing customer base for the former.

JioCinema also recently announced an annual subscription starting at Rs 299 (introductory price) and will be Rs 599 from the second year onwards. It is more affordable than most of the OTT services present in the country.

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Some advertisers are concerned that all cricket broadcast in India will be controlled by a single entity and that this could hurt their business. However, Reliance and Disney have said that Indians consume cricket on several other platforms like Meta and YouTube, along with other social media platforms like X. So advertisers will always have more places to spend their money.