As India’s most awaited media merger between Zee Entertainment Ltd and Sony Pictures Network India hit a roadblock on Tuesday with the Japanese firm issuing a public statement, a move that indicates all is not well in the deal, exchange4media revisits four successful high-profile mergers and acquisitions in the media sector.

Even as the proposed merged entity of Sony-Zee is expected to result in the largest media conglomerate in India with over 75 channels and an estimated worth of $10 billion, the deal is still relatively small compared to the top four such deals on record.

All eyes are on the ZEEL and SPNI leadership now as industry stakeholders speculate whether the duo would be able to pull through the deal successfully, as other high profile media groups did in the past.

WarnerMedia & Discovery 

Mergers and acquisitions are nothing new to the entertainment industry. Among them, the most recent one was between WarnerMedia and Discovery, announced in 2021 and executed by 2022. The deal was reportedly worth $43 billion ($100 billion including debt).

In April 2022, WarnerMedia (Parent company AT&T) and Discovery came together to form Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The combined company started trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “WBD”.

The WBD houses three streaming services: HBO Max, Discovery+ and CNN+; Warner Bros. studio; and cable channels such as TNT, TBS, Food Network, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Discovery, truTV, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, HGTV and HBO, and franchises like “Batman” and “Harry Potter” among others.

David Zaslav, the long-time Discovery veteran, is leading the combined entity. While some executives from both sides stayed back, many exited.

The Zee-Sony deal seems to be inspired from the WarnerMedia and Discovery deal. Both were announced around the same time. However, regulatory roadblocks took time to clear the Indian deal.

It is said that Punit Goenka seeks to play David Zaslav. The Japanese firm’s plans don't align with Goenka’s ambitions though, mainly due to pending cases against Goenka.

Sony’s acquisition of Columbia Pictures 

While the WarnerMedia and Discovery deal may be the largest one in terms of revenue, it was Sony Corp. which had bought Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc. for $3.4 billion ($4.8 billion including debt) way back in 1989.

It was considered the highest bid ever by a Japanese company for any U.S. property those days. The deal also created a political uproar in the United States, industry veterans say.

The Japanese electronics major acquisition of Columbia also included TriStar Pictures. With the acquisition, Sony aimed at setting industry standards for the future generation of digital video technology. However, Columbia was renamed Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) in 1991 as the Japanese firm tried its hand on the movie business.

During the first five years of the acquisition, Sony faced many problems in its movie business. However, the firm is still standing tall. The SPNI seeks to partner with ZEEL with an ambition to become India’s largest entertainment conglomerate.

Walt Disney and 21st Century Fox 

The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company was announced in December 2017, and was completed in March 2019.

The acquisition included the 20th Century Fox film and television studios, cable channels such as FX, Fox Networks Group, a 73% stake in National Geographic Partners, Indian television broadcaster Star India, and a 30% stake in Hulu.

One day before the acquisition, 21st Century Fox spun off the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business, Fox Sports 1 and 2, Fox Deportes, and the Big Ten Network into the newly formed Fox Corporation. Other 21st Century Fox assets such as the Fox Sports Networks and Sky were divested and sold off to third parties such as Comcast and Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Viacom-CBS Merger 

The merger of CBS Corporation and Viacom was announced in August 2019, and was completed in December 2019. It reunited the duo into a single company known as ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global). The deal was reportedly worth Rs $30 billion.

Interestingly, CBS and Viacom were part of the same company before. Viacom had bought CBS in 1999 for $36.5 billion. They separated in December 2005 as a US court had forced CBS to spin off Viacom after ruling that television networks couldn't have financial stakes in shows they aired.

The two companies' holdings include a library with 3,600 film titles and 140,000 TV episodes along with Paramount Pictures studio, the CBS broadcast network, cable network brands such as MTV, BET, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central as well as such streaming services including CBS All Access.

Paramount Global later forged a joint venture (Viacom18) with Network 18, the media group controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani. It operates 38 channels across nine Indian languages, including the Colors TV channels, and streaming platforms JioCinema and Voot.

In 2022, Viacom announced a strategic partnership with Reliance and Bodhi Tree Systems, a platform of James Murdoch‘s Lupa Systems and former Disney president Uday Shankar, to form a giant TV and digital streaming company in India.

Viacom18, which has bagged IPL (men) streaming rights for five years, is now in talks with Disney to buy out its TV business in India (Star India).