Disney’s loss from Reliance JV declines to $44 million in June quarter

MUMBAI: Disney’s India losses are finally showing signs of getting smaller. The company’s loss from its joint venture with Reliance Industries narrowed marginally in the June quarter, while the venture itself posted a sharp improvement in profitability during FY26.

Disney reported a $44 million loss from the India joint venture for the quarter ended June 27, compared with a $50 million loss a year earlier.

For the nine months ended June 27, the loss stood at $136 million, down from $186 million in the corresponding period last year. Disney records its share of the venture’s performance under equity in the income of investees.

The improvement comes as JioStar, the Reliance-Disney venture created in November 2024, delivered a substantial turnaround in FY26.

Revenue from operations rose 46.5 per cent to Rs 30,819 crore, compared with Rs 21,044 crore in FY25. More strikingly, profit after tax jumped to Rs 3,145 crore, from just Rs 18 crore a year earlier.

Reliance Industries owns 56 per cent of JioStar, while Bodhi Tree Systems holds 7 per cent. Disney owns the remaining 37 per cent.

The joint venture brought together Disney’s Star-branded and other general entertainment and sports television channels and Disney+ Hotstar in India with Reliance-controlled Viacom18.

JioStar’s profitability has also been helped by a reduction in provisions linked to expensive sports rights.

The company’s provision for onerous sports contracts fell to Rs 17,742 crore at the end of FY26, from Rs 25,760 crore a year earlier. JioStar utilised Rs 8,018 crore of the provision during the year and did not make any fresh provision.

Some sports-event contracts continue to be classified as onerous because expected customer revenue is likely to fall short of the costs associated with the events. The provision is designed to cover those anticipated future losses.

The issue remains particularly relevant to the Indian sports broadcasting business, where the cost of premium cricket rights has put pressure on broadcasters to balance audience growth with advertising and subscription revenues.

Disney’s latest India numbers also compare with a year-earlier period that was weighed down by several impairment and restructuring charges.

For the nine months ended June 28, 2025, Disney reported $185 million in restructuring and impairment charges, primarily related to an impairment of its investment in Tata Play.

It also recorded $143 million of goodwill impairment related to Star India and another $109 million in content impairments.

Those charges made the previous year’s India-related results considerably weaker, making the latest improvement more pronounced.

Disney’s other major India investment, Tata Play, continues to face challenges.

The 70:30 joint venture between Tata Sons and Disney reported a net loss of Rs 551 crore in FY26, widening from Rs 529 crore a year earlier.

Revenue also declined 13.5 per cent to Rs 3,530 crore, from Rs 4,082 crore in FY25.

The contrasting performances underline the changing fortunes of Disney’s India portfolio. While JioStar has moved sharply towards profitability following the integration of its television, streaming and sports businesses, Tata Play continues to contend with pressure on its traditional pay-TV operations.

For Disney, the narrowing India loss is an encouraging sign that its largest media joint venture in the country is beginning to translate scale and integration into better financial performance.