Disney is reportedly planning to sell its streaming and television business in India. One of the potential buyers for Disney’s India ventures is Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance. Disney currently offers its streaming service, Disney+ Hotstar in India but it has been seeing a decline in subscribers affected primarily after the removal of IPL on its platform.
Reliance could purchase Disney’s India business
Disney is considering either selling the entire business as a whole or partnering for a joint venture, according to a report by Bloomberg. This means that Disney would be selling not only its streaming service but TV rights as well. Reliance is one of the frontrunners in possibly purchasing Disney’s India ventures, and it was even approached to buy a stake in the business, the report added.
But whether or not the deal will come through is still unclear as Disney is still keeping options open. It might just decide to continue running its business here for longer. Also, the possibility of Reliance buying its stakes may also not happen eventually.
Disney+ Hotstar drop in subscriber base
Disney+ Hotstar did suffer a major blow in subscriber growth after its IPL streaming rights were grabbed by Reliance for its own streaming service, JioCinema. Walt Disney reported a drop of 4.6 million subscribers for Disney+ Hotstar in its Q1 earnings report earlier this year. Disney in the earnings report said that the decrease was due to lower sports viewership particularly the IPL matches. Disney+ Hotstar hasn’t lost all sporting events as it is currently streaming the Asia Cup 2023, and it will also broadcast the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
But in addition to IPL, Disney+ Hotstar also removed popular HBO shows including Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Succession and The Last of Us. These shows are now available on JioCinema as part of Reliance’s exclusive deal with Warner Bros Discovery Inc.
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