According to the media cited by informed sources, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Group and Hollywood entertainment leader Disney's Indian market subsidiary have proposed to sell some of the television channels in order to accelerate the anti-monopoly approval process of the $8.5 billion Indian media asset merger but refuse to change their ownership of cricket broadcast rights.

However, some antitrust experts have warned that the Reliance Group-Disney India business merger plan announced in February may face very strict scrutiny, as it will create India's largest entertainment company and compete with Japan's entertainment leader Sony, Zee Entertainment, Netflix and Amazon, with as many as 120 television channels and two flagship-level streaming services after the merger.

It is understood that the merged company will be majority owned by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Group, the former wealthiest man in Asia, and will also hold cricket broadcast rights worth billions of dollars and lucrative profits, which has raised concerns about pricing power and control over advertisers.

According to sources who declined to be named, India's antitrust regulator CCI privately raised about 100 issues related to the merger of the two parties after the Reliance and Disney jointly told the antitrust regulator that they were willing to sell some important television channels (less than 10) to alleviate market concerns about competition and seek approval as soon as possible.

Sources said some of the concessions proposed by the two companies involve language channels in the Indian region, where the two companies may have an absolute dominant market share.

In terms of competitors, Zee and Sony plan to create a television and media giant worth up to $10 billion in the Indian market and provide franchises by selling three television channels in 2022. This helped them obtain approval from India's CCI, but the large-scale merger ultimately failed.

A notice from the CCI regarding whether to approve the transaction contains detailed information about the competitive landscape, indicating that the market share of Disney and Reliance TV channels in the Marathi market was between 65% and 75% at that time. In the Bengali entertainment channel, the market share of the two companies also reached 50%. There is currently no clear information indicating whether the CCI has approved the merger plan of Reliance Group and Disney.

Disney declined to comment. Reliance Group and India's CCI did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the media.

The dilemma of cricket broadcasting rights in India.

Cricket broadcasting rights are another point of contention in the merger process. The sport has many loyal followers in India and the matches receive enthusiastic support from advertisers.

After the Reliance Group and Disney India business merger, it will have the digital and television cricket broadcast rights of top cricket leagues, including the most valuable cricket championship in the world - the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Well-known investment institution Jefferies said that Reliance Group-Disney India will have up to 40% of the TV and streaming advertising market share.

K.K Sharma, former head of mergers and acquisitions at the CCI, previously said: "If Disney and Reliance Group join hands, there will be almost no remaining live cricket broadcasting market in India... Here, it is not only a dominant position, but almost complete control of cricket."

Sources revealed that the CCI is studying the market influence of these large companies on cricket copyright in India, and so far has not raised any concerns at any level, but these companies have argued with the CCI that these copyrights will expire in 2027 and 2028 and cannot be sold now.

In addition, sources said that these companies are also worried that any act of licensing Indian cricket broadcast rights to another party needs to obtain prior approval from the Indian Cricket Committee, which may significantly prolong the approval process. "Reliance Group and Disney both believe they may be powerless when it comes to cricket broadcast rights," one source told the media.