Reliance Industries’ media and entertainment revenue for the financial year ending March 31, 2024, stood at Rs 10,826 crore, up by 49% from Rs 7,266 crore in the last fiscal.
According to the company’s annual report, its EBITDA in the M&E sector reduced from Rs 236 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 33 crore in 2023-24.
In a statement, Chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani said, “Media segment consolidated its market share with leadership across important segments. Record viewership of the Indian Premier League on JioCinema underscored our ability to scale up audience on our digital platform in a short time.”
He further said, “During the year, we entered into a landmark agreement with The Walt Disney Company, world’s leading media company, for creating a joint venture which combines the businesses of Viacom 18 and Star India. The resultant joint venture will be one of the leading television and digital streaming platforms in India, bringing best-in-class entertainment for our audience across the country.”
As per the report, digital segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.5% over 2023-26 to C 955 billion, representing nearly 50% of ‘big media’ (TV, Digital, Print). With 900+ million broadband subscribers, led by mobile, and around 75% of time-spent on small-screens going towards content consumption, online video is expected to drive long-term growth of the media segment.
“Reliance has taken big strides in scaling-up the media and entertainment vertical in the last year. From initiating the merger of TV18 and E18 (Moneycontrol) with Network18, to onboarding a strategic investor in Viacom18, to announcing partnership with Disney, all these initiatives will not only help to capture the growth opportunities presented by India’s rapidly growing media landscape but also to shape its evolution,” the company said in its annual report.
The joint venture (JV) with Disney will combine the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India to form one of the largest Indian M&E companies. RIL will invest Rs 11,500 crore into the JV for its growth plan, it said.
The merger of TV18 and E18 (Moneycontrol) with Network18 was initiated, to consolidate TV and Digital news assets in one company.
“It will simplify holding structure and create India’s leading integrated news media conglomerate,” it said.
The company also highlighted the challenges it currently faces, including the rising costs and fragmented viewership.
“Intense competition has not only led to an escalation in content costs, especially for sports and movie rights, it has also led to viewership fragmentation,” it said.
Another reason is macro-economic linkages, it said, adding that India’s ad market is inherently linked to macro- economic growth, necessitating creation of a robust business model insulated from fluctuations in the economy.
The third challenge, it said was piracy.
“Despite content piracy seeing a significant decline, it remains a critical challenge in generating commensurate return on investment,” it said.
