By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The head of U.S. giant Disney’s Hotstar streaming app in India, Sajith Sivanandan, has resigned, three sources said on Thursday, as business integration gathers pace after the company’s $8.5 billion merger with Reliance’s India media assets.
The resignation comes days after an internal decision for all live sporting events of the merged entity, including the popular Indian Premier League (IPL), to be streamed on Disney’s Hotstar app, and not Reliance’s JioCinema.
That was the first major step in integration after the deal to create India’s biggest entertainment company.
However, the leadership has yet to decide if JioCinema will continue as a separate app, said two of the sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity, as the discussions are private.
Sivanandan, Disney and Reliance did not respond to queries from Reuters.
After the merger, Disney and Reliance will together have more than 100 TV channels and two streaming apps, and will compete with Sony, Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Sivanandan worked at Hotstar for more than two years after working at Google for 15 years.
JioCinema is currently led by Kiran Mani, another former Google executive who has been associated with Reliance’s media unit for about a year.
Reliance’s JioCinema has the rights to IPL cricket, a money-spinner that is among the most-streamed content, as well as to the Winter Olympics and Indian Super League football.
Hotstar has rights to the International Cricket Council’s tournaments in India and English Premier League soccer.
(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
