With the formal completion of the mega-merger between Jio and Star, the two sports broadcasting giants have begun operating as a unified entity.
The first major signs of this integration will be evident next month during England’s tour of India for an eight-match white-ball series.
Cross-promotion of properties began earlier, and from next month, these properties will also be shared across platforms.
The England series, a property of JioCinema, falls under this arrangement, even though its parent company, Viacom18, secured the exclusive media rights from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for Rs 5,963 crore last September for five years.
On Monday, Star announced that the eight matches, scheduled between January 22 and February 12, will be broadcast live on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar.
However, this doesn’t exclude the original platforms—Sports18 and JioCinema—from streaming and broadcasting the games.
It appears that Star’s platforms will serve as the primary broadcasters, as confirmed by Star Sports through an official announcement on its social media.
Sources within the integrated company indicated that while the series may also be available on the original platforms, going forward, the Champions Trophy, an ICC property acquired by Disney Star, could be available on JioCinema and Sports18.
Star and Jio formally merged in November 2024 when Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) announced the deal.
In a statement on November 14, RIL said, “RIL, Viacom 18 Media Private Limited (Viacom18), and The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) (Disney) today announced that following the approval by the Hon’ble NCLT Mumbai, Competition Commission of India, and other regulatory authorities, the merger of the media and JioCinema businesses of Viacom18 into Star India Private Limited (SIPL) has become effective (the JV).
In addition, RIL has invested Rs 11,500 crore (1.4 billion) into the JV for its growth.
The JV has allotted shares to Viacom18 and RIL as consideration for the assets and cash, respectively.”
The transaction was valued at INR 70.352 crore (USD 8.5 billion).
At the close of the deal, the JV is controlled by RIL, with 16.34 percent owned by RIL, 46.82 percent by Viacom18, and 36.84 percent by Disney.
Star Sports has long been India’s dominant sports channel, holding almost all cricket properties—India’s home matches, ICC events, and the IPL.
However, with the rise of Sports18 and JioCinema in recent years, it faced stiff competition, resulting in the sharing of IPL rights and the loss of India’s home games to the competitor.
The ICC rights, however, remained with Star.
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