Explained | What were India's antitrust concerns over Disney-Reliance deal?

Walt Disney Co and Reliance Industries won approval from the Competition Commission of India on Wednesday for an $8.5 billion merger of their Indian media assets after offering concessions relating to their grip on broadcasting rights for cricket.

New Delhi: Walt Disney Co and Reliance Industries won approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday for an $8.5 billion merger of their Indian media assets after offering concessions relating to their grip on broadcasting rights for cricket, India's favourite sport.

Here are the key points raised in the CCI's initial assessment, according to a confidential letter sent to the companies on Aug. 19 and reviewed by Reuters:

Market Position

Reliance's media and entertainment unit had a market share of 7.5 per cent in 2023-24 in the sports TV channel segment, while Disney had a 77.7 per cent share in those years.

Rival Sony had an 8.6 per cent share in sports TV channels.

"The sports TV channel segment is already highly concentrated," the CCI said in the letter. "Most of the current sports content such as cricket ... are streamed on either of the two platforms (of Reliance and Disney)".

The CCI also noted "there is a possibility of higher negotiating power and the ability to monetize the sports rights via subscription and advertising".

Bidding Pattern

"The combined entity would have a larger financial capacity to acquire various sports rights," the CCI document said.

It analysed the bids submitted earlier for sports rights and found that Disney and Reliance are "close competitors".

Disney and Reliance told the CCI that big foreign players are likely to enter the Indian market to bid for streaming rights of key sports events, but the watchdog said there was no such intent expressed by companies publicly.

Ad Market Dominance

Disney and Reliance are competing for advertisers. "After the merger, there may not be an adequate number of competitors ... for advertisers," the CCI said.

As there would be a lack of competitive prices, advertisers may not be able to negotiate with the Disney-Reliance merged entity, the CCI feared.