Rely on this Company to Make a Big Move in Entertainment

Aditya Rao

BigTVFew people would ever dream of trying to upstage India’s most prosperous media conglomerate TV18 unless of course you’re Anil Ambani and you’ve got the Reliance juggernaut backing you up all the way.

Fewer people realize that Reliance has been trying for years to take over and dominate every possible entertainment medium in India –Radio, TV, Internet and Film. Some of India’s best known brands in these fields are actually owned and run by Reliance and its subsidiaries.

RelianceThe Reliance Anil Dhirubai Ambani Group runs India’s largest radio station having overtaken STAR’s Radiocity franchise. Now called BIG radio most heard on 92.7 fm, the station has an amazing presence in some of India’s most cosmopolitan cities. While their presence in south India isn’t as spectacular as they’d like they’re still the most prosperous and widely heard brand in North India.

BIG is a name that Reliance is also using to launch its own direct to home service. While Tata‘s Sky service and Zee’s Dish TV are still the leaders in the field, Reliance’s big (no pun intended) marketing unit will definitely be of competition when they launch Big TV. Buzz for this product has been created with initial reports speculating that Reliance is trying to secure its own satellite space like Tata has done with its DTH service.

Reliance Entertainment has also for long trying to capture the Indian movie distribution market. They were among the first to introduce the concept of the Hollywood studio structure. They market major Bollywood movies in India and abroad under the ‘Adlabs’ name. Recently they got into producing and marketing these films.

That is however a small step for Reliance who are now investing hardcore in Hollywood. What makes this such a big affair is that they will be making Hollywood movies with big stars. George Clooney and Angelina Jolie are negotiating to star in these films. Reliance is also negotiating to distribute movies in areas where they don’t have a presence by forming important partnerships under a profit sharing system.

In addition to all of this Reliance entertainment has also managed to create an Indian market for online gaming thus consolidating it’s presence over the web.  Zapak.com was thought for a long time to be a bad idea but it has managed to surprise everyone including Reliance. The success of Zapak has prompted Reliance to market it in other emerging economies of the world like China, Russia and Brazil. Such a move guarantees the company a significant share in the world gaming market especially on the web.

All of this falls into place right now simply because the next year or a little longer could very definitely see the release of the Reliance Entertainment IPO. The plans for this launch have been drawn up but the next IPO that Reliance launches must be able to avoid the overwhelming expectations that ran through the launch of its Power IPO.

In this case, they are treading carefully and with entertainment avenues rising everyday, Reliance and its entertainment company has every potential to be the next big thing.