Months after the completion of merger of the media business of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Viacom18 and The Walt Disney, the resultant media behemoth JioStar has begun layoffs to eliminate overlapping roles.
According to a report by Live Mint, the media giant kicked off the layoff exercise last month. It is expected to continue till June and will see nearly 1,100 employees losing their jobs.
Sources confirmed the layoffs to Inc42 but didn’t disclose the exact number of employees impacted by it. JioStar didn’t respond to Inc42’s queries about the job cuts.
The layoffs will primarily impact finance, commercial, and legal departments, with employees from entry-level to senior director level getting handed pink slips, the Mint report said, citing sources.
The OTT platform is also handing out “generous severance” packages to the impacted employees. The payout structure of these packages ensures six to 12 months of salary, depending on the years served.
The report said that the affected employees are getting one month’s full salary for every year completed at the company, in addition to the notice period, which ranges from one to three months.
This comes three months after RIL and The Walt Disney Company announced the merger of their media businesses in November 2024. The JV commanded a valuation of $8.5 Bn (INR 70,352 Cr) on a post-money basis. Back then, RIL also announced an investment of $1.4 Bn (INR 11,500 Cr) in the JV for its growth.
Last month, JioStar announced the launch of JioHotstar by merging its two OTT platforms, JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. Launched on February 14, JioHotstar will initially offer consumers free access to shows, movies, and live sports for select hours. The platform will also introduce a range of subscription plans tailored to diverse audience preferences, starting at INR 149.
The merger of the streaming platforms marked a major consolidation in the OTT space. From sports to HBO titles, JioHotstar boasts an impressive content library.
The new platform is expected to host the collective user base of both JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. While JioCinema reached 225 Mn monthly active users in FY24, Disney+ Hotstar had 333 Mn monthly active users as of December 2023.
