Reliance Industries seems to be focusing on the media sector with a strong push likely to come for both broadcasting as well as digital media.
According to a Moneycontrol report, Reliance is planning to raise funds upwards
of Rs 12,000 crore from financial investors to strengthen the media business.
It added that the conglomerate will also invest its own capital into the
domain.

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Reliance Industries is ready to take on the likes of
Amazon, Netflix, and Hotstar. Reliance has signed Uday Shankar, former Star &
Disney India chairman, and James Murdoch, as strategic partners in the growing
media business. Both individuals will play a crucial role in contributing to
the growth of the media business, said Moneycontrol citing unnamed sources.

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Reliance’s disruption strategy will be similar to what it
did in the digital services business with Jio.

While Reliance will be the largest shareholder, Viacom’s
stake is likely to come down, according to sources.

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The report came at a time when Zee Entertainment and Sony
Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPNI) has signed a merger to form
India’s largest entertainment network by viewership, with a 26.7% viewership
share.

Star-Disney is the current leader by viewership, with an
18.6% share.

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Viacom18, a joint venture of Network18 and ViacomCBS,
offers 53 channels and reaches around 600 million Indians monthly. Network18
owns a 51% stake in Viacom18 and the rest is owned by ViacomCBS.

Zee and Sony through the merger are aiming to build up
their digital business. Reliance also has its eyes on growing digital business.
According to analysts, digital is the fastest-growing segment in the media
sector at 22-23%.

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Viacom18 owned streaming platform Voot follows the
fermium model that offers free content as well as paid content on Voot Select
which is a subscription video on demand (SVOD) platform. Voot Select was
launched in March 2020 managed to get a million subscribers on board in less
than a year of its launch.

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In the SVOD market, Voot Select faces major competition
by the likes of Disney+Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix have around 46
million, 21.8 million, and 5.5 million paid users. However, Voot is developing
both its regional content as well sports portfolio which is the right content
strategy to onboard more subscribers, according to analysts.