India’s entertainment landscape shifted Thursday as Reliance Industries and Disney completed their long-awaited media merger, creating an Indian powerhouse valued at $8.5 billion. The deal combines Disney’s Star India with Reliance’s Viacom18 and streaming platforms JioCinema and Hotstar.

The head of Disney and Reliance Industries’ newly merged $8.5bn Indian entertainment titan plans to invest and “revitalise” television in the world’s most populous country even as western media organisations increasingly see it as a dying medium.

Reliance and Disney have completed their landmark Indian media merger, creating an $8.5 billion entertainment powerhouse in the country's streaming and Reliance and Disney complete landmark Indian media merger,