Amazon India purchased Times Internet Ltd’s (TIL) OTT MX Player platform after a series of negotiations. The purchase was made at a lower cost than what had previously been paid for the platform. However, it is not clear what the reduced price is, but it may be around $45-50 million, equivalent to Rs 350-Rs 400 crores. Mails to MX Player CEO Karan Bedi, Times Internet and Vineet Jain, MD, Times Group, remained unanswered.
Amazon Prime Video shared their response early this week, saying: “We don’t comment on rumors or speculation.” “A deal between Amazon and TIL in this regard has been finalized, which stipulates final payments of the deal should be completed by 30 June this year,” sources close to the development said.
MX Player CEO Karan Bedi is expected to obtain around a third of the amount of the agreement, as per sources close to the development. The remaining money will be paid to the other shareholders. Bedi is likely to continue heading the platform for another year.
It is worth noting that MX Player was ranked as the third most downloaded OTT app in the world in 2022 based on the status of Mobile 2023 data-based. AI. Also in India, MX Player was the most downloadable app. However, the platform is sold at almost 25 percent below the price at which it was acquired four years ago.
After the deal, Amazon Prime Video is expected to be four times more important in terms of acquiring consumers. Amazon has an estimated 28 million users in India, while MX Player has nearly 78 million users. This deal can make India’s OTT war more severe now, especially at a time when the sector faces growth challenges, and with the Reliance Group throwing its hat in the game.
Viacom18 played a big gamble by streaming IPL for free on JioCinema, for users across all telecom networks, in an attempt to get the maximum number of users, even as it has shelled out Rs 24,000 crore to acquire IPL’s digital media rights for five years.
MX Player was launched as a video player on 18 July 2011, in Korea. In 2019, it was relaunched as an OTT platform with original programming.
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