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Disney Star – The new media powerhouse in India

Its been branded as the “deal of the century” after The Walt Disney Company acquired entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox this week, opening up an array of opportunities for the former in markets around the world.

The one opportunity worth watching will be Disney’s presence in the India market, which includes Star TV, OTT platform, Hotstar and the distribution platform, Tata Sky. Disney, which has presence in the children’s TV market in India, has struggled to tap into the highly competitive Hindi GEC genre. This will no doubt change now, bolstering Disney’s presence and that how!

Benefits for Disney in India
– An already made hugely successful network of channels – The highly profitable Star TV Network consists of 69 channels in eight languages. It has one of the biggest entertainment channels in India, Star Plus, a popular movies channel, Star Gold and a number of regional and English language channels and sports services.
– A boost in film production Fox Star India – Disney will gain access to not only 20th Century Fox slate of movies and also Hindi movies through its Indian film arm, Fox Star India. Not only that, the film production will grow further with Walt Disney Studios, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm.
– Leading OTT platform, Hotstar – 21st Century Fox already runs Hulu in the US and Hotstar in India. Disney will gain with presence on digital platforms, along with its own. It certainly will boost its share in this space, to go head on with Netflix and Amazon.
– Subscriber base of second most popular DTH platform, Tata Sky – Disney will take control of subscribers from Tata Sky, which remains the second biggest DTH platform in India. It will ramp up its business by getting direct access to homes across India.

What happens to 21st Century Fox
21st Century Fox will retain its news and sports business including Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Sports, Fox Television Stations Group, and sports channels FS1, FS2, Fox Deportes and Big Ten Network.

The transaction will take between 12 and 18 months to complete, with hurdles expected when the US competition regulators scrutinise the deal.