The European Commission has given the green light for the creation of a joint venture called Star India, involving Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), The Walt Disney Company (TWDC), and BTS Investment 1, which is led by James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, along with media executive Uday Shankar.

According to a report from The Economic Times, the Commission concluded that the transaction poses no competitive concerns, citing the joint venture’s minimal footprint in the European Economic Area and the limited market share of the involved companies.

The merger between RIL’s Viacom18 and Disney’s Star India is expected to be finalised by early November, pending final approvals from the Competition Commission of India, the National Company Law Tribunal, and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The merger aims to establish India’s largest media and entertainment conglomerate, valued at around $8.5 billion. Under the agreement, Viacom18 will transfer its assets to Star India, which will oversee operations after the merger. Reliance Industries will hold a controlling 56 per cent stake, while Walt Disney will own 37 per cent, with the remaining 7 per cent held by Bodhi Tree Systems, a partnership between Uday Shankar and James Murdoch. Nita Ambani is set to be the chairperson, and Shankar will assume the role of vice chairperson.

The newly formed entity will boast over 100 TV channels and two streaming platforms, with Disney+ Hotstar anticipated to maintain streaming rights for the Indian Premier League in 2025.

As excitement builds around the potential merger of JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, an unexpected development involving a contested domain name has surfaced. A savvy developer from Delhi has preemptively registered the domain ‘JioHotstar.com,’ which could complicate plans for a unified platform. In a direct message aimed at executives at Reliance Industries, the developer explained that the decision to secure the domain stemmed from Disney+ Hotstar losing its IPL streaming rights, which could lead to a decline in user engagement. Sensing a strategic opportunity, the developer compared this move to Jio’s successful rebranding of Saavn to JioSaavn, highlighting their foresight in the evolving media landscape.