BENGALURU: Walt Disney Co and Reliance Industries won approval on Wednesday for an $8.5 billion merger of their Indian media assets after assuaging regulatory worries about their grip on broadcasting rights for cricket, India’s favorite sport. India’s Competition Commission (CCI) said the deal had been approved subject to some modifications.

The antitrust watchdog had expressed concern that a merged entity would control most cricket rights for TV and streaming in India, and could hurt advertisers. The merger will create India’s biggest entertainment player to compete with Sony, Netflix and Amazon with 120 TV channels and two streaming services. Reliance and Disney have spent roughly $9.5 billion in recent years for TV and streaming rights for the world’s richest cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, the International Cricket Council’s matches such as the one-day and T20 World Cups, and matches organized by the Indian cricket board.

To get the merger over the line, the two companies have offered concessions to the CCI, including a commitment to not raise advertising rates unreasonably for streamed cricket matches, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. They also pledged not to bundle and sell advertising slots for different cricket tournaments, the source added.

The CCI said in a statement it "approves the proposed combination”, without giving any more details. Both companies have offered free viewing of matches over the years to attract users to their streaming platforms in the hope they will then buy subscriptions. Media agency GroupM estimates that companies spent nearly $2 billion in India in 2023 on sports industry related sponsorship, endorsement and media, with cricket accounting for 87 percent of the spend.

Disney and Reliance’s merged entity will also own Indian broadcast rights for the Wimbledon tennis championship, MotoGP and the English Premier League, among other sporting events. The merged company will be majority owned by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance. The CCI had privately asked Reliance and Disney around 100 questions related to the merger.

K K Sharma, a former head of mergers at the CCI, had earlier said the deal, if approved, would create "a big fish in the broadcasting market” which will practically be a "monopoly on cricket advertisement revenues”. The proposed merger, first announced in February, is expected to combine 120 TV channels and two streaming platforms, challenging rivals such as Japan’s Sony and Netflix in a $28 billion media and entertainment sector set to be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade. Here is a list of the other leading media players in India and the sectors they dominate:

Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime Video is estimated to have about 20 million users in India. Its Indian aggregation service, Channels, offers subscriptions to other global and local video streaming services.

Zee entertainment

One of the oldest media companies in India, Zee’s businesses include television broadcasting, video streaming and movie production. Its domestic broadcast portfolio consists of around 48 TV channels as well as a streaming platform. Japan’s Sony Group in January pulled the plug on a $10 billion merger deal with Zee that had been in the works for two years, citing unresolved "closing conditions” and leadership disputes.

Sony India

In its 29th year of operation, Sony Pictures Networks India, Sony Group’s subsidiary, operates 26 channels ranging from general entertainment to sports and movies. It says its content reaches as many as 700 million viewers in India and is available in 167 countries. Sony also operates the video streaming platform Sony LIV in India.

Netflix

The streaming giant Netflix views India as a key market. In a recent visit to India, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos was quoted as saying that he sees its Indian subscriber base rising to 100 million over time, from around 10 million now.

Bennett Coleman and Company

Based in Mumbai and established in 1913, the company produces its flagship Times of India newspaper and owns a host of assets in broadcasting, publishing, radio, film and entertainment.

Sun TV Network

Dominant in south India, Sun TV operates 35 TV channels in six languages, along with 69 FM radio stations and three daily newspapers. — Reuters