NEW DELHI: Antitrust body CCI has asked Reliance Industries and
Walt Disney around 100 questions linked to their $8.5 billion India
media assets merger, including details on sports rights as it
heightens its scrutiny of the deal, two sources told Reuters.
Antitrust experts had warned that the Reliance and Disney deal,
which was announced in Feb, could face intense scrutiny as it will
create India's biggest entertainment player with 120 TV channels
and two streaming services. The companies will also together own
lucrative rights for cricket - India's most popular sport. In a
confidential submission to CCI in May, the companies said their
merger would not hurt the competition, and argued that cricket
rights will expire in 2027 and 2028 and allow bidding by rivals, and advertisers can target cricket-watching
consumers on many rival platforms including YouTube, Reuters reported in May. reuters
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