E-com giant Amazon will acquire a number of assets from streaming service MX Player

E-commerce and technology giant Amazon has signed an agreement to acquire some assets of Times Internet-owned streaming platform MX Player.

“We are always looking for ways to introduce new products and services that help improve customers’ lives. We are excited to continue entertaining India with the great local originals and exclusive content available through our Prime Video and miniTV services in India,” an Amazon spokesperson said.

However, the company said the transaction has not yet been completed.

The deal reportedly values ​​MX Player at less than $100 million. This is a significant drop from its $500 million valuation when it last raised $111 million in funding in 2019.

The deal is expected to boost Amazon’s miniTV streaming service. Launched in May 2021, Amazon miniTV is a free, ad-supported video service that is part of Amazon’s shopping app. The service can be accessed anytime, anywhere on the go without a paid subscription. It currently offers an extensive selection of fresh, trendy and compelling entertainment across multiple genres and can also be downloaded as an app from the Play Store.

Amazon also operates a subscription-based streaming service called Prime Video. It is bundled with its Prime subscription service.

The deal comes as India’s largest conglomerate Reliance Industries and Walt Disney this year announced the merger of their India TV and streaming media assets, creating an $8.5 billion entertainment platform.

Together, the Reliance-Disney merger will have 120 TV channels and two streaming platforms.

In January, nearly 243.5 million users – a 46.5 percent market share – visited three streaming platforms, Disney’s Hotstar and Reliance’s JioCinema and JioTV, according to a report from Bloomberg. Hotstar attracted over 114 million unique visitors this month, while JioCinema and JioTV received over 129 million visitors during the period, according to Comscore data.

The merger is expected to take on competitors such as Amazon’s Prime Video and miniTV, Netflix Inc and local platforms such as Zee Entertainment Ltd’s MX Player and ZEE5.

First print: June 6, 2024 | 6:50 PM IST