JioStar Launched; JV Worth US 8.5 Bn Set To Transform Media Industry

Marking a significant turnaround in India’s media and entertainment industry, the joint venture (JV) between Reliance Industries Limited, Viacom18 Media and The Walt Disney Company was named as JioStar. The JV merges Viacom18’s and JioCinema’s media assets with Star India, which is valued at approximately ₹70,352 crore (US $ 8.5 billion). RIL has infused about ₹11,500 crore (US$1.4 billion) in the JV.

RIL will be controlling 56% stake in the newly controlled joint venture, which includes contributions from Disney and Viacom18, which stand at 36.84% and 46.82% respectively. While combining entertainment brands including Star, Colours, JioCinema and Hotstar, the new platform is set to produce more than 30,000 hours of content annually with more than 100 channels. It has also pegged a digital customer base of over 50 million.

Leadership structure

Nita Ambani will be leading as the Chairperson of the JV along with Uday Shankar as its Vice Chairperson. Three CEOs including Kevin Waz, Kiran Mani and Sanjog Gupta will be looking towards entertainment, digital and sports operations.

While Rakesh Upadhyay will work directly with Kevin Vaz on entertainment business operations, Bharath Ram will be leading the product department. Akash Saxena and Shoury Bharadwaj will be heading the tech and engineering department.

Ambuj Kashyap alongside Uday Shankar and various CEOs will work on strategic and business initiatives. While Rishi Gaind will look after Human Resources, George Cherian will lead the Department of Corporate Communications and PR.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited said, “With the formation of this JV, the Indian media and entertainment industry is entering a transformational era. Our deep creative expertise and relationship with Disney, along with our unmatched understanding of the Indian consumer will ensure unparalleled content choices at affordable prices for Indian viewers. I am very excited about the JV's future and wish it all the success.”

Mr. Robert A. Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company said, “This is an exciting moment for our two companies, as well as for India's consumers, as we create one of the top entertainment entities in the country through this joint venture.”