Star India a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company is set to merge with Reliance Industries media company Viacom18. However just before the merger Star India has reported a substantial standalone net loss of ₹12548 crore for the financial year ending March 31 2024. The company attributes this significant financial loss to challenges related to an International Cricket Council (ICC) media rights deal. Star India Faces ₹12548 Crore Loss For the financial year 2024 Star India reported a standalone net loss of ₹12548 crore citing an ICC media rights deal as the primary reason. The company had to make a provision of ₹12319 crore due to issues arising from this deal. In 2021 Star India secured the ICC’s TV and digital rights for a four-year period (until 2027) at a cost of $3 billion.  Viacom18 and Star India Merger Timeline  The merger between Viacom18 and Star India is nearing completion. Viacom18 which is backed by Reliance Industries reported a net loss of ₹252 crore for FY24  as compared to its previous year’s net profit of ₹11 crore. The increased losses are attributed to substantial investments in sports and streaming segments. Despite this Viacom18s revenue surged by 75% to reach ₹8032 crore. Star India on the other hand saw its operating revenue decline by over 6% to ₹18587 crore in FY24 down from ₹19812 crore the previous year. The total expenditure for the company jumped by over 68% from ₹18724 crore to ₹31548 crore primarily due to provisions made for the ICC deal. Advertising revenue dropped by 4% to ₹10736 crore while subscription revenue slightly decreased by 1% to ₹6909 crore. Shareholding Structure Post-Merger Following the merger the shareholding structure of the new entity will be as follows: Reliance Industries: 56% The Walt Disney Company: 37% Bodhi Tree Systems (Uday Shankar and James Murdoch’s venture): 7% Star India operates 77 TV channels across entertainment sports and kids categories in addition to running the popular streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar. This merger is seen as a strategic move by Reliance to strengthen its position in the Indian media and entertainment industry particularly in the sports broadcasting space.