Reliance industries Limited (RIL), Viacom18, and The Walt Disney Company announced the effective merger of Viacom18’s media and JioCinema businesses with Star India, following approvals from regulatory authorities, including the NCLT Mumbai and Competition Commission of India.

The head of Disney and Reliance Industries’ newly merged $8.5bn Indian entertainment titan plans to invest and “revitalise” television in the world’s most populous country even as western media organisations increasingly see it as a dying medium.

Reliance Industries and Walt Disney on Thursday completed the $8.5 billion merger of their Indian media assets, which have been split into three divisions, with each unit having its own CEO. The companies said the newly formed divisions are entertainment,

India’s entertainment landscape shifted Thursday as Reliance Industries and Disney completed their long-awaited media merger, creating an Indian powerhouse valued at $8.5 billion. The deal combines Disney’s Star India with Reliance’s Viacom18 and streaming platforms JioCinema and Hotstar.

Reliance and Disney have completed their landmark Indian media merger, creating an $8.5 billion entertainment powerhouse that will dominate the streaming and television markets in the world's most populous nation.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has completed the merger of its media assets with the India business of Walt Disney for an $8.5 billion ( ₹70,352 crore) joint venture (JV) that will be controlled by the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate.

The joint venture has combined revenue of $3.1 billion and over 100 TV channels, 50 million subscribers, and 30,000 hours of TV entertainment content annually