Walt Disney is said to be in preliminary talks with potential suitors for its India streaming and television business.
Candidates include billionaires Gautam Adani and Kalanithi Maran.
Options being considered
Disney’s senior executives have also considered the interest of private equity funds considering the company is exploring a range of options.
This could involve selling part of the Indian operations or a combination of the unit’s assets including sports rights and streaming service Disney Hotstar.
It has also been weighing strategic options for its India business including an outright sale or setting up a joint venture.
Tipping point
All this comes after it lost its streaming rights to the IPL tournament to Viacom18 Media, which is a joint venture between Reliance, Paramount Global and Uday Shankar’s investment firm Bodhi Tree Systems.
If Maran’s broadcasting company, Sun TV, goes on to acquire the business, it could help expand its newly acquired New Delhi Television.
Deliberations are still at a very preliminary stage and a deal may not happen.
How Ambani changed the game
The discussions around the sale of Disney’s India unit show how the market dynamics have been disrupted ever since Ambani’s conglomerate nabbed the streaming rights to IPL for $2.7 billion and chose to broadcast it for free earlier this year.
Ambani scored another victory when he bagged a multi-year pact to broadcast Warner Bros Discovery Inc.’s HBO and other content that was previously with Disney.
Disney not giving up
Disney is now taking cues from Reliance and is now streaming the Cricket World Cup in India for free.
Looks clearly like an attempt at gaining back some subscribers even if it means sacrificing revenue in the cricket-mad nation.
However it is likely also getting a boost, given that marquee global brands are lining up looking to get a piece of the massive consumer base the country offers.
Advertising slots are already being sold at $3,600 a second.
Disney Star, which holds the exclusive TV broadcast rights for the event in India, said it’s partnering with 26 sponsors, including heavyweights like Booking.com BV and liquor company Diageo Plc.
Valuable consumer base
Cricket is by far the most popular sport in the nation, attracting more than $1.5 billion in sponsorship and media spending every year or about 85% of all sports-related spending in the country!
Just goes to show why Disney Star, struggling with slipping subscriber numbers after losing the streaming rights to IPL still hasn’t given up on the entire cricket business, securing the television rights through 2027.
Last year it agreed to license the TV rights for International Cricket Council men’s matches to ZEE Entertainment For four years, with Disney Hotstar retaining the digital rights.
