By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -All live sporting events streamed by the newly merged Disney-Reliance business in India, including popular Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket, will only be available on Disney’s Hotstar app, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The decision marks the first major integration of the businesses and signals billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance, which holds a majority of the new venture, doesn’t plan to shut the Disney platform, though it is unclear if Hotstar might be rebranded.
Disney declined to comment, while Reliance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Disney and Reliance in February agreed a $8.5 billion merger of their media assets to create India’s biggest entertainment company, with a combined 120 TV channels and two streaming apps, but gave no details on how they would combine or operate after the deal.
Reliance’s JioCinema has the rights to IPL cricket, a money-spinner and among the most-streamed content, as well as to the Winter Olympics and Indian Super League football.
Hotstar has rights to the International Cricket Council’s tournaments in India, English Premier League soccer, and the domestic Pro Kabaddi League.
Hotstar head Sajith Sivanandan held a town-hall this week to tell staff of the decision to switch live sports streams from Reliance’s app, one of the sources said.
The decision was influenced by Hotstar’s better back-end technology for handling live content as well as serving targeted ads, the person said, adding Hotstar was aiming to complete the transition by January.
A second source said it was not clear how other entertainment content might be integrated, including whether the venture would continue to operate two apps or close one.
The merger was approved by India’s competition regulator in August after the companies offered concessions to ease worries about their grip on cricket broadcasting rights, including a commitment to not raise advertising rates unreasonably.
Hotstar has come to be known for its prowess in handling live content glitch-free in cricket-mad India, where it’s common for millions to watch events at the same time. It set a record concurrent viewership of 59 million during the finals of men’s cricket World Cup last year.
(Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Additional reporting by Munsif Vengattil; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Mark Potter)
