Massive Reliance-Disney merger cleared by India watchdog

The competition watchdog had raised concerns that the new entity could increase advertising prices for these matches.

However, the two companies have reportedly pledged not to raise advertising rates excessively for cricket match streams.

They have also said they would sell seven to eight of their non-sports TV channels to balance out revenues, a source told Reuters.

With the merger, the two companies will also have Indian broadcast rights for the Wimbledon, MotoGP and the English Premier League or EPL.

The deal “creates a huge digital entertainment giant”, Gurmeet Chadha, managing partner of financial consultant Complete Circle, told CNBC-TV18 news channel.

“They have the content muscle and their tech capabilities are well-known. They have the reach in terms of distribution. They have the relative analytics and insight into what content is consumed where,” he said.

In a country with 1.4bn people and 90% internet penetration, “this has huge, huge long-term implications,” he added.