According to two persons with direct information who spoke to the media, Reliance Industries and Walt Disney have requested antitrust permission for their $8.5 billion merger of Indian media companies, claiming that their combined strength, particularly in cricket programming, will not hurt sponsors.

Experts had anticipated that the February announcement of the merger, which will establish India as the country’s largest entertainment player with 120 TV channels and two streaming services, would come under close examination. It will also possess valuable rights to cricket, the national sport of India.

The cricket rights were acquired independently through a competitive bidding procedure, as Reliance and Disney informed the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The sources, who wished to remain anonymous due to the confidentiality of the clearance process, claimed this.

The corporations contend that other rivals won’t suffer since they will be able to submit bids after those rights expire in 2027 and 2028, according to the sources.

The secret filing will now be reviewed by the CCI. Even though any approval usually takes a few weeks, if the watchdog isn’t happy and requests further information, it may take longer.

There were no comments on the issue by Reliance, Walt Disney and the CCI.

Currently, Disney and Reliance own billion-dollar digital and television cricket rights for the Indian Premier League, the International Cricket Council, and Indian Cricket Board matches—the most valuable cricket competition in the world.

Concerns have been raised about the combined company’s potential for significant influence over consumers and advertisers. In March, K.K. Sharma, the former head of CCI’s mergers division, expressed concern to the regulator about how Disney-Reliance would have “absolute control over cricket” and how “hardly anything of cricket will be left”.

We shouldn’t be working on this else.

According to Jefferies, the Disney-Reliance combination will control 40% of the TV and streaming ad market.

According to the sources, the businesses informed the CCI in their application that there would be no effect on advertising because people who watch cricket can be targeted on several competing platforms where they also consume content, such as YouTube and Meta.

In a similar vein, the businesses claim that marketers won’t suffer from the agreement because Indians watch material on TV, social media, and streaming applications.

“There is a blurring of the barriers between digital and TV. Businesses use demographics to target their customers. The first source stated, “They can always target a consumer elsewhere if they don’t like ad rates on the Disney-Reliance entity.”

The Reliance-Disney partnership will compete with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zed Entertainment, and Sony in India’s $28 billion media and entertainment business, which is expected to change as a result of the arrangement.

(Adapted from ThePrint.in)