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Q. The merger of Star and Viacom18 is a certainty. Assume you have to offer a ‘blessing’ with a ‘Jug Jug Jio’ to the new disposition, what would it be – in terms of an advice?
A. The merger of the Indian media business of Walt Disney with Reliance Industries’ Viacom18 should have a significant impact on the Indian media and entertainment sector. This is to state the obvious. And the combine has been conceived and strategised to achieve a competitive advantage and not to do so some social work for salvaging one company or the other.
It is anticipated that lower tariffs for subscribers are likely to come to a gradual end one day, while the bargaining power of advertisers will be impacted in some form. I can’t predict it on the basis of any assumption as strategic imperatives do change.
Any speculation about business is fraught with uncertainty. And the merged entity would not be business-wise incorrect to misuse the competitive advantage to negatively impact the stakeholders. It would be self-defeating in the long run.