Mihir Rale, now Chief Regional Counsel at Disney Star, joined Star India as a manager in 2009 and became the head of operations in India in 2019. At Star India, he helped create the Media Pro joint venture and acquired the ESPN stake in the ESPN Star Sports joint venture. He also established joint ventures for the company’s football and Kabaddi programs. Mihir played a major role in acquiring important sports rights, including IPL, BCCI, and ICC, and was involved in launching Disney+ Hotstar in India.
Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance had in February this year signed a binding agreement with Disney to merge the media operations in India, the world’s most populous country with diverse demography that consumes high volume of media content.
The merger between Reliance Industries Limited’s (RIL) Viacom18 and Walt Disney’s Star India is expected to be finalised in early November after receiving regulatory approvals in India, ET had reported citing sources familiar with the situation. This merger will form the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in India, valued at $8.5 billion. As part of the deal, Viacom18 will transfer its assets to Star India, which will operate as the main company following the merger.
Last week, reports said citing sources the head of Disney’s Hotstar streaming app in India, Sajith Sivanandan, had resigned. K Madhavan, who served as the Country Manager and President of Disney Star, had also reportedly stepped down.
The resignations also come days after it was reportedly decided that all live sports events for the merged company, including the popular Indian Premier League (IPL), will be streamed on Disney’s Hotstar app instead of Reliance’s JioCinema.ET had also reported citing sources that Reliance will keep Disney+ Hotstar as the only streaming platform after the merger of Star India and Viacom18.
Who is Mihir Rale? Key roles he played at Disney Star
Mihir Rale has played a key role in several important developments within the media industry. He was involved in the sale of Star’s stake in the home shopping venture Star CJ and also facilitated the sale of Star’s stake in Star News, a news and current affairs joint venture with ABP. He helped acquire an indirect stake in Tata Sky under Press Notes 2/3 of 2009 and oversaw the completion of the buyout of the entire promoter stake in Asianet. Additionally, he played a significant role in the acquisition of Maa TV.
Mihir was also instrumental in obtaining antitrust clearances and managing investigations related to various acquisitions and divestitures. He led litigation regarding the mandatory sharing of sports signals with Prasar Bharati, which helped reduce revenue losses for sports broadcasters in a challenging market. Furthermore, he challenged several TRAI regulations through collaborative efforts with the industry and the company to protect the freedom of speech and expression.
As a thought leader in the industry, Mihir addressed numerous issues, including over-the-top (OTT) content, broadcasting, theatrical distribution, satellite spectrum, and ensuring a fair share of OTT revenue for infrastructure providers. He also advocated for accessibility standards and raised awareness about warnings related to tobacco and alcohol in the media.
Mihir started his career as a litigation lawyer at Haresh Jagtiani & Associates, working at the Bombay High Court. Before joining Star India, he was with AZB & Partners, where he handled both legal disputes and other legal work.
He has an LLB and a Bachelor’s degree in Socio-legal Sciences, both from the Indian Law Society’s Law College at the University of Pune.
