Disney-Reliance JV has partnered to provide all live sports programming on Hotstar: Report

Disney-Reliance JV has partnered to provide all live sports:  Disney-Reliance’s first big integration since the merger announced, will stream IPL and other major sports events. 120 channels and 2 streaming platforms combined. $8.5 billion deal announced earlier this year.

JioCinema currently streams IPL, and Hotstar has ICC, EPL, and Pro Kabaddi. One of the sources said the decision to move all live sports to Hotstar was because of its better back-end technology to handle live content. Hotstar also serves targeted ads better than others, so Reliance and Disney preferred to stream live sports on Hotstar.

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Hotstar has a good reputation for smooth streaming, especially in India where millions watch live cricket. During the men’s World Cup finals last year, Hotstar hit a record 59 million concurrent viewers. Sajith Sivanandan, head of Hotstar, had a town hall meeting to inform staff about the changes.

The transition of live sports from JioCinema to Hotstar will be completed by January next year. But it’s still unclear if Hotstar will rebrand or if both JioCinema and Hotstar will continue to exist for other entertainment content.

The Disney-Reliance merger was finalised in February but many details are still unclear. One of the sources in the report said there are still questions on if both platforms will coexist or one will be shut down. This has left many wondering how non-sports content on both platforms will be managed going forward.

India’s competition regulator approved the Disney-Reliance merger in August after both companies agreed to certain conditions. They agreed not to increase ad rates unreasonably which eased concerns on their monopoly over cricket broadcasting rights, a big chunk of India’s media landscape.

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JioCinema has the Winter Olympics, Indian Super League (football), IPL (previously). Hotstar has other cricket tournaments, including ICC tournaments.

Another source said it was not clear how other content would be integrated, or if they would continue to run two apps or shut one down.

The merger was approved by India’s competition commission in August after the companies offered to ease concerns around their hold on cricket broadcasting rights, including not to raise ad rates unfairly.

Hotstar has become the go-to for live content in cricket crazy India where millions watch events together. It set a record 59 million concurrent viewers during the men’s World Cup final last year.

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