Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire chairman of India's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), hailed a groundbreaking partnership with Disney and unveiled ambitious AI plans at the company's annual general meeting on Thursday.
The Competition Commission of India on Wednesday approved the proposed $8.5 billion merger of key entertainment assets in India by RIL and Walt Disney Company, subject to voluntary amendments.
Ambani wasted no time in acting as if the merger was already a done deal, describing the Disney deal as “the beginning of a new era in India's entertainment industry.”
“We are combining content creation with digital streaming,” Ambani said, outlining a strategy to “deliver unmatched content at affordable prices” across a wide range of consumer preferences.
“We are excited about this partnership and warmly welcome Disney to the Reliance family,” Ambani said, identifying the conglomerate's expanding media business as a key growth driver.
Reliance's media and entertainment division achieved revenue of more than $1.2 billion, growing 49 percent. Reliance's entertainment division, Viacom18, performed even better, growing 62 percent, led by its sports division, Ambani said.
The company's streaming platform, JioCinema, hit a significant milestone. This year's Indian Premier League cricket tournament on JioCinema attracted 620 million viewers in India, up 38% from last year. Total viewership grew 50%, making it “the most-watched live streaming event in the world,” Ambani said. The platform's new subscription packs, which offer originals, reality shows, movies, and content from HBO, Paramount and NBCU, have attracted 15 million paid subscribers in the first 100 days, Ambani revealed.
On the television front, Ambani said Colors has risen to the top position among Hindi channels and its news networks have dominated viewership, with News 18 leading the election coverage, CNBC TV 18 garnering 82% viewership on Budget day and CNN News 18 retaining the top spot for over two years.
Digital assets are also doing well, with Moneycontrol boasting 70 million unique visitors and its premium service MC Pro counting more than 850,000 paid subscribers. Firstpost is expanding globally and recorded 127 million video views in July, Ambani said.
In the telecom sector, Jio has gained over 490 million customers and completed the rollout of its 5G network across India. Ambani has set an ambitious target of doubling Jio's revenue and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) within three to four years. The company has also launched JioAirFiber, a 5G-based home broadband service, and aims to onboard one million new customers every month.
Artificial intelligence has emerged as a key focus, with Ambani announcing his vision of “Jio AI Everywhere For Everyone.” The company plans to build a national AI infrastructure, including data centers, with the goal of achieving “world's lowest AI inference cost” in India. Reliance is developing a suite of AI tools and platforms, “Jio Brain,” and will offer 100GB of free cloud storage to Jio users starting from the Diwali holiday in November to support its AI services.
“In the entertainment sector, AI can create personalized experiences for users and make content more engaging and relevant,” Ambani said.
