Opinion: Media Consolidation In Indian Media Is An Evil In Hiding.

Media Consolidation is a concept regarding ownership of media firms, where a single individual or an organisation gets the ownership of multiple media firms and platforms. This consolidation comes in the form of mergers like the Disney-Viacom18 merger.

Indian Media’s End of Freedom

The Indian media scene used to be vibrant and complex, filled with various television channels and OTT platforms. However, in the form of mergers, media consolidation had its effects over here too. Currently, India has 905 Satellite Television Channels, most of which are owned by a handful of media conglomerates. Disney Star owns 80 channels, while Viacom has 38 under its name. With their merger, Reliance will end up owning over 118 channels in India, most of which are considered the most popular. 

ALSO READ: Here Are Some Of The Reasons For The Disney-JioCinema Mega Merger!!

Death of Diversity:

When two media films merge, it always results in the death of one firm. For example, the Disney-Star Merger, where Disney acquired Star and let them use their name, but the company itself ceased to exist. So now all the content that comes is solely from Disney. Hence, the number of channels might remain the same, but the creator of content reduces.

Homogeneity in Content:

When content on various channels and platforms is coming from one source, a problem in the quality of content arises. A media organisation has an ideology, so when it merges with another, its ideology reflects on the content of the other company. Hotstar used to be known for its dark theme and complex dramas, but then, when Disney acquired it, its need to create family-friendly content plagued the platform.

Birth of Monopoly:

When mergers occur, competition starts to reduce because there are only a few parties in the game, so the conglomerate that has the most platforms and audience creates a monopoly. To get this monopoly, companies start merging with others one way or another.

Now that Disney is planning to merge with Reliance’s Viacom18, the entity that is created out of this merger is going to be the biggest media platform in India. The fact that this merger is said to be why Sony cancelled its merger with Zee explains the dominance this merger will have. This merger is criticised for all the reasons mentioned above, but there seems to be no effect on the deal. The Competition Commission of India has given a green light to this merger, which will be valued at Rs. 72,000 after its completion.