A new era in sports entertainment is set to begin next month after the mega merger between the two streaming giants, Jio and Star, is officially completed. England's upcoming white-ball tour of India will mark the beginning of Jio and Star's partnership, according to Cricbuzz.
India will host England in the eight white-ball matches between January 22 and February 12, and during this series, these two streaming giants will share platforms.
A new era in sports broadcasting begins with the India vs England series
India vs England matches will be broadcast live on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar, though JioCinema originally acquired the exclusive media rights under Viacom18's INR 5,963 crore deal with BCCI for 5 years.
Also Read: India U19 squad announced for U19 Women’s World Cup T20 2025
Star Sports announced this pioneering collaboration on its social media platforms on Monday, December 23. Star revealed that the eight scheduled matches between India and England will be available live on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar, marking a new chapter in the combined broadcast.
Interestingly, the two original platforms, Sports18 and JioCinema, will still be able to access and broadcast the white-ball series between India and England, providing viewers multiple platforms to enjoy the cricket action. However, Star Platforms will remain the primary broadcasters.
The star is likely to share the ICC events with Jio
It is said that future collaborations could include major ICC events like the Champions Trophy, likely to be broadcast on Star and Jio platforms. Notably, the rights to the ICC events are secured by Disney Star, but may also be available on JioCinema and Sports18.
Regarding the merger, they said in an official statement: “RIL, Viacom 18 Media Private Limited (Viacom18) and The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) (Disney) today announced that after approval by Hon'ble NCLT Mumbai, Competition Commission of India, and other regulatory authorities, the… The merger of Viacom18's media and JioCinema businesses into Star India Private Limited (SIPL) is effective (joint venture). Additionally, RIL has invested Rs Crore (1.4 billion) in the joint venture for its growth The joint venture has allocated shares to Viacom18 and RIL as consideration for assets and cash, respectively.
The joint venture (JV) deal is said to be worth INR 70,352 crore (US$8.5 billion). Following the deal, the joint venture is now under the control of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), with ownership distributed at 16.34% by RIL, 46.82% by Viacom18, and 36.84% by Disney.
Sports18 and JioCinema have become strong competitors to Star
For many years, Star Sports has dominated the sports broadcasting arena in India, owning major cricket properties, including Indian home matches, ICC tournaments such as the World Cup, and the Indian Premier League. However, with the advent of Sports18 and JioCinema, Star faced stiff competition.
This led to the combined broadcast rights of the IPL and the loss of exclusive rights to home games in India, which were secured by its rivals Sports18 and JioCinema (all matches), while DD Sports only has ODI and T20I match rights. However, Star still has the broadcast rights to the ICC.