Disney India plans to scale down TV, sports, film business: Report

By Administrator_ India

Media conglomerate The Walt Disney Company is looking to consolidate its television broadcasting, sports catalogue and film studio business in India.

The company might reduce the number of television channels, with genres such as English entertainment and lifestyle expected to be impacted after the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a Mint report.

Star World might be taken off air soon, the report added.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.

Disney India had not yet responded to Mint’s queries on its strategy.

The report comes after Walt Disney announced a strategic reorganisation of its media and entertainment business, and hinted at a push for original content.

“Under the new structure, Disney’s world-class creative engines will focus on developing and producing original content for the company’s streaming services, as well as for legacy platforms, while distribution and commercialisation activities will be centralised into a single, global Media and Entertainment Distribution organisation,” Walt Disney said in a statement on October 12.

The company’s plans also follow the exit of Uday Shankar, Chairman of Star & Disney India.

Star India, Fox Star Studios, and Hotstar became a part of the Walt Disney Company after the conglomerate acquired 21st Century Fox in 2018.

“One could expect the global leadership to take a fresh look at India in terms of streaming and question the growth of TV given that television broadcasting is in terrible shape in the country,” a source told Mint.

The person was referring to the new tariff order (NTO) introduced by TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) in February 2019.