Disney has held talks with Indian billionaires Gautam Adani and Sun TV Network owner Kalanithi Maran as well private equity firms to sell its streaming and television business in the country, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
Disney is exploring various possibilities, including selling some of its Indian operations or a mix of assets from the unit, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The discussions around the sale of Disney’s India unit show how the market dynamics have been disrupted ever since Ambani’s conglomerate scooped up the streaming rights to the Indian Premier League for $2.7 billion and chose to broadcast it for free earlier this year. Ambani scored another win by bagging a multi-year pact to broadcast Warner Bros Discovery Inc.’s HBO and other content that was previously with Disney.
Disney is now using Reliance’s playbook and streaming the ongoing Cricket World Cup in India for free — a move aimed at clawing back some subscribers even if it means sacrificing revenue in the cricket-crazy nation of 1.4 billion people.
Disney, however, is likely getting a boost as marquee global brands line up to tap India’s massive consumer base, with advertising slots being sold at $3,600 a second. Disney Star, which holds the exclusive TV broadcast rights for the event in India, said in a statement Wednesday that it’s partnering with 26 sponsors, including heavyweights like Booking.com BV and liquor company Diageo Plc.
Cricket is by far the most popular sport in the South Asia nation and attracts more than $1.5 billion in sponsorship and media spending every year, according to research from Jefferies LLC, or about 85% of all sports-related spending in the country.
Even as Disney Star has battled sliding subscriber numbers after losing the streaming rights to the Indian Premier League, the media group hasn’t ceded the entire cricket business, securing the television rights through 2027.
Last year, Disney Star agreed to license the TV rights for International Cricket Council men’s matches to ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. for four years, with Disney Hotstar retaining the digital rights.
