CCI Approval Likely Clears All Regulatory Hurdles for Disney-Reliance Merger

Despite the CCI's conditional approval of the nearly $8.5 billion media merger between Disney and Reliance, experts warn that the merger could still negatively impact market competition in the media industry.

Reliance has assured the antitrust regulator that it will make good faith modifications to preserve competition following its merger with Disney. However, experts predict that both regional TV channels and global streaming giants may face tougher conditions once the merger is finalized.

Karan Taurani of Elara Capital noted, "We believe other linear TV broadcasters, such as Zee, SUNTV, and TVT, may struggle to grow above the market average or gain market share due to the advantages that RIL-Disney will have."

Taurani also highlighted potential challenges for multinational OTT giants like Amazon and Netflix, stating, "Even MNC OTT giants could feel the impact of the RIL-Disney merger, as they may face difficulties in significantly raising prices and might need to invest more in content to compete with the free offerings by Jio Cinema."

HBL