MUMBAI: The recent grand announcement suggesting media mogul James Murdoch and Uday Shankar will acquire close to 40% stake in Viacom18 as part of their "coming together with Reliance Industries along with some other players", and plan to invest Rs 12,000 crore in entertainment and sports broadcasting business made ripples in the American markets last week.
Industry executives whispered how 'Burbank' - a city in the Los Angeles County of California, popularly referred to address the Walt Disney Studios based out of there - stood "shaken" by the development. On Monday, K Madhavan, the reticent, media-shy president at Walt Disney India, gave an interview saying his company would stay "bullish on all sports rights renewals," and the timing of his statement was further seen as an effort on part of the company to frantically convey they are very much part of the competition.
