Reliance over the last few years has been building a media and entertainment empire in India with no signs of slowing.
Looking at some of their biggest assets:
Reliance Jio is India’s and the world’s largest Telecom company by number of subscribers. They famously are the catalyst of the now well documented digital revolution in India driven by easy access to mobile data and the lowest rates in the world.
JioTV and Voot were among the largest OTT platforms by number of unique views in 2022.
Going forward, JioTV will see a significant boost in its viewer numbers at the expense of Disney Hotstar. This uptick in usage will be propelled by the IPL which is now free to watch for all Jio subscribers and the HBO and WB libraries which were previously held by Hotstar and now sit with JioTV.
Jio is making a beeline in content production as well. They have announced a massive slate of 100 movies and shows with some of the biggest movie and TV stars of the country.
Reliance owns Mumbai Indians, the most successful franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL), one of the most watched sports leagues in the world.
Broadcasters and the market overall see tremendous growth potential in the already popular IPL – it has the second highest per game broadcast fee among all sports leagues in the world!
Mumbai Indians also owns teams in other major cricket leagues – MI Cape Town (SA20, South Africa), MI Emirates (ILT20, UAE), MI New York (MLC, USA), and Mumbai Indians Women (WPL, India). This puts Mumbai Indians in a commanding position in the cricket world as the sport becomes more commercial and popular.
Reliance truly has a 360 degrees media and entertainment strategy – people access content which they create (Jio Studios/ Mumbai Indians) on platforms they own (JioTV/Voot/Broadcast) through their telco (Jio)
My take:
- Reliance will become the market leader in all forms of digital entertainment by further capitalizing on their captive Jio audience and offering something for all audiences – movies and TV series across genres; HBO, WB & other international content; and sports (IPL, franchise cricket)
- The Group will acquire more content rights to move eyeballs away from other digital platforms (they are on track to beat Disney Hotstar)
- The Group will continue to acquire other leading media & entertainment companies. They previously acquired Network18, Bookmyshow, Firstpost etc.
- Lastly, Reliance has global ambitions. They already have a joint venture with Paramount Global (Viacom18) among other global partnerships. I would not put a major international acquisition past the Group’s immediate plans.
Source: Staista, BARC, TRAI