Jio-Disney shaadi faces antitrust googly

Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani

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Jio-Disney shaadi faces antitrust googly

The context: Once upon a time, Disney ruled Indian television thanks to Star India—which gave it valuable IPL broadcast rights, dozens of channels, and a stake in a Bollywood production company. Then in 2022, Disney+ Hotstar lost the rights to stream IPL to Reliance—and haemorrhaged millions of subscribers. When Disney decided to cut its losses—surprise, surprise—its primary suitor was Reliance. Earlier this year, the two companies signed a “binding merger pact”—creating India's largest media empire, spanning TV broadcasting, streaming, movies and sports. The $1.4 billion ideal gave Reliance a 63% stake in this newly created company.

What happened now: India’s antitrust body—the Competition Commission of India (CCI)—is unhappy with the monopoly this Reliance/Disney creation has over cricket broadcast rights:

Paying roughly $3 billion each, Reliance’s Jio took the streaming rights [for IPL], while Disney secured only the pay-TV rights. Also in 2022, Disney Star had won Indian TV and digital rights to both men’s and women’s global events conducted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from 2024 through 2027.

Between them, they also control 40% of the ad market in TV and streaming.

But, but, but: The two companies are refusing to budge:

The companies have told the watchdog they are willing to sell fewer than 10 television channels to assuage concerns about market power and win an early approval, sources told Reuters. But they had refused to relent on cricket, telling the CCI that broadcast and streaming rights will expire in 2027 and 2028 and cannot be sold right now, and that any such move would require the cricket board's approval, which could delay the process.

Of course, the cricket board is controlled by none other than Jay Shah.

Speaking of Jay Shah: He may soon be the emperor of cricket everywhere. Shah is rumoured to be the next chief of the International Cricket Council—replacing Greg Barclay, who is expected to step down when his term ends in November. He could have hung around for another two-year term, but was “informed by Shah in recent days that the BCCI secretary wished to replace him in November and had the numbers to do so.” Even better: Shah will serve for an extended three years—as per the new ICC constitution.

A bit of interesting timing: Disney-owned Star is trying to change the terms of that broadcast deal it cut with the ICC back in 2022:

Star chiefs want to renegotiate the deal and reduce its value by up to half, potentially meaning the loss of millions of dollars from the budgets of major cricket countries over the next four years.

This will hurt the Indian cricket board the most—since it receives 40% of the rights revenue (about $230 million per year) as per a revised formula.

Chronology samajhiye: Star sent its ‘reduction notice’ to the ICC—trying to cut its ICC bill. Soon after, “four sources” at the Indian antitrust body leaked their “concerns” about the Disney-Reliance monopoly over cricket rights. All roads lead to the Shah family.

Reading list: Reuters has the exclusive report on the antitrust concerns. The Age has more on the Star-ICC angle. The Telegraph reports on Jay Shah’s imminent anointment as ICC chief.

Democrats house party: Day two

The party seems to have given up any pretence of holding an old-fashioned convention. The second day featured a barnstorming speech by Michelle Obama—who skewered Donald Trump’s claim that illegal immigrants are taking ‘Black jobs’ (read: low paying). It’s a classic:

But the Obamas weren’t done with Trump yet. Next up: Barack’s subtle ‘penis’ joke—yes, you read that right. As you can see, hands can speak volumes:

It’s a party, baby! A party convention requires the delegates from each state to formally announce which candidate they support—which is usually the most boring bit of the event. But the Dems’ roll call put the ‘party’ back in their party:

DJ Cassidy stood onstage in what appeared to be a double-breasted satin suit of royal blue, spinning a special song for each state and territory awarding their delegates to Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention. What America got was a mashup of an elite karaoke night: Detroit native Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” for Michigan, Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” for Massachusetts and Tupac Shakur’s “California Love” for California.

The wildest of the lot was Georgia—who roped in rapper Lil Jon:

Rare good news for working women

A new report shows that e-commerce platforms and online vendors have created 3.5 million jobs for women last year. That’s out of a total of 15.8 million jobs—i.e 22%. What’s notable: Online vendors employ twice as many women as offline ones: “[E]ach e-commerce vendor on an average employs about 9 people, of which 2 are female, while each offline vendor employs about 6 people, of which only 1 is female.” Ecommerce has also been a boon for vendors in Tier 3 cities—whose sales jumped 71% since they shifted online. (Economic Times)

Sticking with jobs: Yesterday, we explained the political brouhaha over ‘lateral entry’—the practice of hiring people from the private sector to perform high-ranking civil service jobs. The rationale: a shortage of qualified officers within the civil service. It’s also why the UPSC put out the controversial job ad for joint secretaries.

But, but, but: An Indian Express report shows that there was no such shortage: “for every vacancy, there were, on an average, 18 applicants.” And the plan to bring in 15 Joint Secretaries per year from the private sector would total up to 105 posts in total—a staggering third of the available JS vacancies. A problem flagged by the government’s own Department of Personnel and Training. Indian Express has lots more details.

Three health studies of note

One: There have been a number of studies touting the benefits of weight loss drugs lately. But a new study shows people taking semaglutide—the primary ingredient in these Ozempic, Wegovy etc—are at a 45% higher risk of having suicidal thoughts. But weight loss drugs may not be the sole cause:

When the study authors excluded cases of people taking semaglutide and antidepressants, the association disappeared — suggesting that people who were taking both drugs were driving the risk.

Not everyone is impressed by the results—arguing that the authors relied on self-reported results from a flawed WHO database–which “are very subject to bias, including effects of media reporting.” (CNN)

Two: Attention meat-eaters: reducing certain kinds of meats is good for your health.

A large global study has found “the most comprehensive evidence” linking processed and red meat to type 2 diabetes. Processed meat is the worst. Just two slices of ham—50 gm—increases the risk by 15%. As for red meat, 100 gm or a small steak carries a 10% higher risk. (The Guardian)

Three: Fear induces all kinds of changes in our body—often causing us to “freeze.” The good news in the latest research is that there’s a kind of ‘fear brake’—at least in the brains of mice—that prevents such cascading effects:

The cells involved are located in the central-lateral part of the amygdala, which acts as a sort of library for fear memories. The newly identified neural circuit seems to control how much fear mammals express when those memories are accessed.

Why this matters: While mice and men are not alike, it could offer key insights into PTSD and other fear-related memories. Science Alert has more nerdy gyaan.

Is the Atlantic Ocean cooling too quickly?

The context: The world’s weather is most visibly affected by two phenomena: El Niño and La Niña. La Niña is formed when parts of the Pacific Ocean cool down—and its opposite is El Niño—which occurs when the Pacific heats up. This affects the movement of trade winds—and there is a knock-on effect around the world (explained at great length here).

What happened now: Since May 2023, the Atlantic ocean has seen record warm temperatures—reaching 9°C higher than average in some parts. The 15-month streak ended this July—but the shift from hot to cool has happened far too quickly. The researchers are calling it the “Atlantic Niña” pattern—but don’t understand its cause.

Why this is worrying: This pattern has emerged just before the onset of La Niña—which also cools the oceans. According to one expert: “[T]here is reason to think the Atlantic La Niña could delay the development of La Niña in the Pacific, slowing its cooling effects across the global climate.” Reminder: We’ve just about survived a scorching El Niño season. (New Scientist, paywalled, Gizmodo)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Many claimed that former Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan was sacked for his lazy ways—ending his work day at 6 pm. Turns out his successor Brian Niccol isn’t even willing to relocate for his new job—and will WFH part of the time.
OpenAI has struck a deal with Condé Nast—the parent company of Vogue, New Yorker, and Vanity Fair etc—to train their AI models.
Pakistani businesses are reeling from the government’s secret ploy to throttle internet speeds by 40%.
WeTransfer has finally introduced a feature that will let users extend the expiry date on their transfer links.
The banks that helped Elon Musk raise funds to buy Twitter are now calling it “the worst deal” since the 2008 financial crisis.

sports & entertainment

Bye bye Bennifer, again…Jennifer Lopez has filed for divorce from Ben Affleck. The date on the papers: Their two-year wedding anniversary. Ouch!
NFL star—and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend—Travis Kelce has landed his first major film role—as a cop.
The Guardian has a good read on how Ireland became the world’s literary powerhouse—because “we all read like hell!”
Hanumankind’s new hit ‘Big Dawgs’ continues to rise in the charts—now at No. 9 in Billboard’s Global 200.

as for the rest

RG Kar has once again sacked its hospital chief—Suhrita Paul—within days of appointing her as the successor to the disgraced Sandeep Ghosh.
The Ukraine incursion across Russia’s borders may end up backfiring on Kyiv—as Russians rally around the flag.
Also: Moscow’s message to citizens in border areas fearing for their safety: quit dating apps!
India has new foster care rules—single people can now foster children and adopt them after two years.
Chennai’s iconic Woodlands Drive-In restaurant relaunches after 18 years.

Five things to see

One: Newly found prehistoric rock paintings—dating back to 10,500 BC—uncovered in Colombia—animals as supernatural beings. These include deer, birds, lizards, turtles, and tapir. But oddly, no fish—even though they are abundant in the region. In any case, they’re pretty to see. (Gizmodo)

Two: The Netflix teaser for the second part of her docuseries ‘Simone Biles Rising’—channels a hilarious ‘Emily in Paris’ vibe! The next two episodes drop on October 25. (People)

Three: This is a heart-rending clip from the newly released ‘Angry Young Men’—where Javed Akhtar speaks of why he doesn’t feel worthy of a five-star meal even today. You can watch the three-part docuseries on Amazon Prime. (India Today)

Four: Check out this hilarious trailer for the series ‘Call Me Bae’ starring Ananya Panday as a spoiled rich South Delhi girl—alongside Vir Das. The show drops on Amazon Prime on September 6. (The Hindu)

Five: Rounding out this trailer bonanza: Hansal Mehta’s ‘The Buckingham Murders’ starring Kareena Kapoor Khan as a detective. The film has been touring international festivals since last year, and will finally hit theatres on September 13. (Indian Express)