Reliance to merge media and distribution businesses into TV unit

Reliance Industries Ltd said on Monday it would merge its media and distribution businesses into its TV business, Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.

Under the plan, the Indian conglomerate’s TV18 Broadcast Ltd, Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd and Den Networks Ltd businesses will consolidate into Network18, the company said.

The company’s news broadcasting business of TV18 will be housed in Network18 and the cable and broadband businesses of Den and Hathway will be two separate wholly owned subsidiaries of Network18, Reliance said.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani, controls Network18 through various subsidiaries of his oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries.

Network18’s portfolio includes VH1, Nickelodeon, MTV, CNBC TV18 and a range of other local language channels, as well as news portals such as Firstpost and Moneycontrol and news channels CNN-News18 and CNBC TV18.