BT Magazine exclusive: Reliance-Disney to focus on both television and digital, says Uday Shankar

The joint venture between Reliance Industries and Disney, apart from creating an entertainment behemoth, places it in very strong position on various fronts. In terms of numbers, the transaction values the joint venture at Rs 70,352 crore (around $8.5 billion).

In an exclusive interview with Business Today, Uday Shankar, Vice-Chairperson of the joint venture and co-founder, Bodhi Tree Systems, made it clear that the plan was to invest on both television and digital. “There is no question of one replacing the other and both are extremely critical from a strategic point of view,” he said.

According to him, there are 90 million television-owning households in India. “That is a huge opportunity for us. Equally, we are aware that digital too is exploding and will continue to grow,” explained Shankar.

Together, the Reliance-Disney entity has combined revenues of Rs 26,000 crore for the FY24 fiscal. In all, they operate over 100 channels and produces upwards of 30,000 hours of entertainment content annually. The two OTT platforms – JioCinema and Hotstar – have over 50 million subscribers. Importantly, the portfolio cuts across genres like entertainment, sports and regional channels.

“The opportunity in India is too large and the network will be to target the mass audience,” said Shankar. Elaborating on the point, he Innovations during the IPL on Jio Cinema like feed in different languages will continue. “Innovation will be a key focus area.”

As a part of the transaction, Reliance Industries has invested RS 11,500 crore into the joint venture for its growth. “This will go into various technologies to make sure that we remain the best network,” said Shankar. One concern has been the huge losses incurred by Disney during FY24 on the back of the bid made for the ICC tournament, which includes the Cricket World Cup and the T20 championships.