MEDIA Juggernaut

THE JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN RELIANCE INDUSTRIES AND DISNEY CREATES AN ENTITY THAT OWNS MORE THAN 100 TV CHANNELS AND WILL HOLD A MONOPOLY ON CRICKET BROADCASTS, POSITIONING IT TO NEGOTIATE AGGRESSIVELY WITH ADVERTISERS

- KRISHNA GOPALAN

UDAY SHANKAR IS a picture of calm despite months of hectic deal-making as we meet him in the spacious Viacom18 corner office on the 36th floor of a Mumbai skyscraper. Clad in a blue T-shirt and white trousers far from the formal attire in his previous job, Shankar was looking out at the vast expanse of what was once home to Mumbai's textile mills when we entered.

A short drive away is the office of Disney India, where Shankar held the top job between 2007 and 2020-first as Star India's boss and later after Disney became its new owner. Reliance Industries Ltd, through Viacom18, has battled Disney to dominate India's media landscape, specifically in the general entertainment and sports categories. Big money has been spent, though not always with great success.

Ownership has often changed dramatically, and a big moment was when Reliance acquired Network18 in 2014. That was followed by Disney's $71-billion global buyout of Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox, giving it the critical India piece.

On November 14, Reliance and Disney announced the completion of a transaction to form a joint venture. At a valuation of ₹70,352 crore (around $8.5 billion), the merged entity will own over 100 television channels in nine major Indian languages, two OTT (over-the-top) platforms and over 30,000 hours of TV content annually.

Shankar will be the Vice Chairperson, providing strategic guidance, while the Chairperson will be Nita Ambani, currently also Chairperson of Reliance Foundation and earlier a director of Reliance Industries.