The Reliance-Disney merger in India arguably has been one of the most crucial M&A deals that has come to pass in the recent past. It became even more crucial after the collapse of another media and entertainment merger between Zee and Sony.
Developer Buys JioHotstar
As the new venture looks to capitalise on its size of impact, it appears to have been affected by little niggle.
A Delhi-based developer has bought the domain 'JioHotstar.com' before the existing ventures, i.e, Disney's Disney+ Hotstar and Reliance's JioCinema, could take up a merger of their streaming platforms.
The developer posted a message for Reliance Industries on his website.
'Dear Executive'
In the message, directly addressed Reliance Industries, the developer said, "Dear Executive of Reliance Industries,
I am an app developer based in Delhi, currently working on my startup. In early 2023, while scrolling through social media, I came across a news piece stating that Disney+ Hotstar was losing daily active users after losing the IPL streaming licence, and Disney is considering selling or merging Hotstar with an Indian competitor."
Enumerating on his reason for the action, the techie further added "This led me to hypothesize that, since Sony and Zee were pursuing their own merger, Viacom 18 (owned by Reliance) is the only major player with sufficient resources to acquire Disney+ Hotstar. This reminded me of when Jio acquired the music streaming service Saavn, they rebranded it to JioSaavn, and changed the domain from Saavn.com to JioSaavn.com. I thought, "If they acquire Hotstar, they might rename it to JioHotstar.com." I checked for the domain, and it was available. I was excited, as I felt that if this happened, I could fund my goal of studying at Cambridge."
The developer anticipated and therefore surmised the possibility of a domain like this coming to pass and latched onto the opportunity to milk benefit out of it.
The techie further added, "In 2021, I was working on a project that was selected for the Cambridge University Accelerate program. It was a transformational experience for me. I couldn't crack IIT and always wanted to learn from the best, coming from a Tier-II college, being selected for this program was an incredibly valuable and practical experience. The startup program taught me many valuable lessons and provided insights into the ins and outs of startups for free, which was amazing. However, it was limited in scope – after all it was just a startup program."
Could Not Crack IIT
The owner of the domain further explained their ambition to study at the prestigious Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.
Enatiling the details of the program the IIT aspirant said, "Cambridge also offers a full degree program in entrepreneurship, which I've always dreamed of pursuing but could never afford, It's Cambridge, quite expensive. When I saw this domain become available, I felt things might just fall into place. My intention of buying this domain was simple: if this merger happens, I might be able to fulfill my dream of studying at Cambridge.
Now that the merger has actually happened, and news sources are confirming there will be only one site post-merger (either JioCinema or Hotstar.com), I believe JioHotstar.com would be a very fitting brand name for the merged entity. It maintains the brand equity of both brands and provides a rational transition for the current users of both sites."
'Reach Out To Buy'
They even provided an email address for communication with the acquirer of the domain, "To acquire this domain, kindly reach out to mail@jiohotstar.com from your company email address with an official letter attached, stating your authorization to purchase on behalf of Reliance Industries/Viacom18. For a multi-billion dollar company like Reliance, this will be a minor expense, but for me, the sale of this domain would be truly life-changing."
It is interesting to note that the domain of 'JioHotstar.in' has already been acquired and according to a Reddit user, it was acquired by the company. There is, however, no confirmation of the same from the company.
