JioStar losses weigh less on Disney as India JV performance improves

APRepresentative image Mumbai: The Walt Disney Company continued to report losses from its stake in India joint venture with Reliance Industries JioStar, though the losses narrowed sharply in the March 2026 quarter, Disney's quarterly US Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed.Disney reported an equity loss of $64 million from the India JV in the quarter ended March 28, 2026, down from $103 million a year earlier. For the six-month period, losses narrowed to $92 million from $136 million.An equity loss means a company is reporting its share of losses from a business it owns partly but does not fully control.Income from equity investees increased by $21 million to $57 million in the quarter from $36 million a year earlier, driven by lower losses from the India joint venture.For the six-month period, income from equity investees rose by $22 million to $150 million from $128 million, due to reduced losses from India venture, partly offset by lower income from A+E, Disney's JV with Hearst Corporation.Live EventsDisney follows a fiscal year that typically runs from late September or early October to the same period the following year. The media giant said the venture combines its Star-branded entertainment and sports TV channels and the Disney+ Hotstar (now JioHotstar) streaming platform with certain media and entertainment businesses owned by Reliance. Disney owns a 37% stake in the venture, while Reliance holds 56% and Bodhi Tree Systems owns the remaining 7%.Following the merger, Disney stopped consolidating Star India's revenue and operating performance in its financial statements.

Instead, it reports only its share of profit or loss from the joint venture as an equity investment.The Reliance-Disney deal created India's largest media and entertainment company worth $8.5 billion, bringing together key cricket rights, entertainment channels and streaming platforms under one umbrella.JioStar reported a net profit of ₹3,210 crore for the year ended March 31, 2026, according to Reliance filings. The company, which operates more than 100 entertainment and sports channels along with the JioHotstar platform, posted operating revenue of ₹31,048 crore and Ebitda of ₹4,885 crore in FY26.In FY25, JioStar more than doubled provisions for expected losses on sports rights contracts to ₹25,760 crore from ₹12,319 crore a year earlier. The JV consolidated major sports rights, including IPL, ICC and BCCI, under one roof, but also inherited the high costs associated with those properties.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) Read More News onDisney India Joint VentureReliance JioStarDisney losses IndiaIndian media and entertainment industrystreaming platform JioHotstarJioStar net profitDisney Reliance mergerequity losses DisneyDisney quarterly resultssports rights contracts India (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onDisney India Joint VentureReliance JioStarDisney losses IndiaIndian media and entertainment industrystreaming platform JioHotstarJioStar net profitDisney Reliance mergerequity losses DisneyDisney quarterly resultssports rights contracts India(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless