Teaching Notes: Reliance industries limited and JioHotStar: propelling each other’s growth or not?

In November 2024, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and the Walt Disney Company’s India entities announced a landmark US$8.5bn joint venture (JV) to form a new streaming platform, JioHotStar. RIL emerged as the majority shareholder holding 16.6% directly and 46.6% indirectly through Viacom18, while Disney retained a 36.8% minority share. The JV rapidly became a dominant force, controlling over one-third of the Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry. By May 2025, the JV had ascended to the third-largest global video-on-demand service, trailing only Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Nita Ambani, wife of Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, RIL, also a...