JioStar is here: The $8.5bn Disney-Reliance JV that can transform Indian media

The much-anticipated JioStar is now live. On November 14, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Viacom18 Media and The Walt Disney Company finalised a joint venture (JV) that marks a major turning point in India's media and entertainment industry. Approved by the NCLT Mumbai, the Competition Commission of India and other global regulatory bodies, this JV merges Viacom18’s and JioCinema's media assets with Star India, creating a media conglomerate valued at approximately Rs 70,352 crore (US$8.5 billion). RIL has also invested Rs 11,500 crore (US$1.4 billion) in the JV to fuel its growth.

The JV, controlled by RIL with a 56% stake, includes contributions from Disney (36.84%) and Viacom18 (46.82%), forming one of the largest media entities in India. This newly formed powerhouse combines some of the country's most popular entertainment brands, uniting the strengths of Star, Colors, JioCinema and Hotstar under one roof. It will operate over 100 TV channels, produce more than 30,000 hours of content annually, and boast a combined digital subscriber base of over 50 million.

Leadership structure and key executives

The JV will be spearheaded by a strategic team with Nita M. Ambani serving as Chairperson and Uday Shankar as Vice Chairperson. Three CEOs will drive operations: Kevin Vaz (entertainment across platforms), Kiran Mani (digital operations), and Sanjog Gupta (sports). Together, they aim to set a transformative direction for the JV.

Supporting these leaders, Rasesh Upadhyay will work directly with Kevin Vaz on Entertainment business strategy and operations, while Bharath Ram will serve as the Head of Product, with Akash Saxena as the Head of Technology and Shoury Bharadwaj as Head of Engineering. Vijay Seshadri will bring his expertise as Chief Architect. Ishan Chatterjee will head Business, Sports Revenue, SMB, and Creator initiatives, while Hursh Shrivastava will manage Partnerships. Sushant Sreeram will lead Marketing efforts, with Gaurav Gokhale working directly with Kiran Mani to drive Digital business strategy.

Ambuj Kashyap will partner with Uday Shankar and other CEOs on strategic and business initiatives, while Rishi Gaind will manage Human Resources, and George Cherian will handle Corporate Communications & PR. Sandeep Jain will serve as the Head of Commercial, completing a robust leadership team designed to drive the JV's ambitious growth and transformation goals.

From the leaders

Speaking about the JV, Mukesh D Ambani, Chairman & 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 choices at affordable prices for Indian viewers. I am very excited about the JV’s future and wish it all the success.”

“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,” said Mr. Robert A. Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “By joining forces with Reliance, we are able to expand our presence in this important media market and deliver viewers an even more robust portfolio of entertainment, sports content, and digital services.”

Uday Shankar, Co-Founder of Bodhi Tree Systems, said, “James and I are excited to be partners in this journey to disrupt the media and entertainment industry in India. The new organisation is committed to deliver an unprecedented level of creativity, disruption and new-age consumer experience. As media consumption continues to move to an integrated TV-digital ecosystem, the merger of Viacom18 and Star India offers a unique opportunity to reorient the industry to better serve diverse cohorts of consumers across the country. Together, we aim to build India’s largest integrated media platform which will deliver unparalleled experiences in innovative and exciting ways.”

Industry impact 

Industry leaders anticipate that this merger will disrupt India’s media ecosystem by creating a singular entity with an unprecedented content portfolio.

In a past interview with e4m, Anil Solanki, Senior Director of Dentsu X, had shared that the merger will disrupt traditional media, boost OTT reach, and intensify competition, ultimately positioning digital platforms as the mainstream.

“The merger is expected to be a game-changer for India’s media landscape. Combining Disney’s content library with RIL’s massive Jio network would expand OTT reach, disrupt traditional media, and increase digital ad spends. This merger could redefine content distribution, making digital the new mainstream,” he had said. 

Shrenik Gandhi, Co-founder and CEO of White Rivers Media, sees the alliance setting a powerful benchmark for strategic collaborations.

“The new age of business demands bold, strategic alliances at scale. Collaborations of this magnitude in the world of entertainment—like the merger we are witnessing—set a powerful benchmark. These shifts will redefine how India—and the world—experience entertainment and sports. We are excited to see what the future holds,” Gandhi had shared.

Amaresh Godbole, CEO of Publicis Groupe India’s Digital Technology Business, shared his perspective on optimizing user experience in the post-merger landscape, suggesting a unified app approach to enhance content discovery and engagement.

"Post the merger, I don’t believe there’s a need for creating separate apps for viewing, as that can reduce discovery and cross pollination of content. Instead, a single app which simplifies navigation to desired content, and facilitates personalised discovery would be the way to go,” he had said. 

“Best in class UX, AI powered user behaviour learning and personalised recommendations, and LLM powered conversational navigation are some of the ways to achieve this. I would think of a second app if the purpose is different from viewing. For instance, a social/community app for fandoms like cricket, K Dramas, and anime etc with sub-communities which forms an ecosystem to complement the viewing app but requires a different kind of UX design,” Godbole added. 

A bold step forward for Indian media

This Reliance-Disney JV is a landmark in Indian media, setting the stage for large-scale innovation and growth.

“The formation of the JV will herald a new era in India’s entertainment industry for consumers. This unique joint venture of Reliance and Disney brings together the companies’ content creation and curation prowess, world-class digital streaming capabilities along with a digital first approach that will help the JV deliver unparallelled content choices at affordable prices to Indian viewers and the Indian diaspora globally,” the company said in a press statement announcing the JV.