Zee to shut major entertainment channel for merger with Sony

In a submission to the Competition Commission of India (CCI), Zee on Friday offered to shut down a major entertainment channel, that has around 20-30 percent market share in the entertainment channel space to ease competition concerns, as reported by Livemint.

“Zee has agreed to shut one of its dominant entertainment channels. Removing the business of this channel from the scope of the merger will ensure that the merged entity’s overall market share is pruned in certain major regions. This may assure CCI that any monopolistic pricing power of the merged entity is curbed and the potential viewership dominance is kept under check," one of the two people told Livemint.

The identity of Zee channel offered to shut down is not known yet.

The move comes as the CCI has expressed concern that Zee-Sony, India's largest merger, may give the company unprecedented pricing power, which can hurt other TV channels in the entertainment broadcasting industry.

Sony and Subhash Chandra’s Zee in December decided to merge their television channels, film assets, and streaming platforms to create a powerhouse in a key growth market of 1.4 billion people, that will challenge rivals like Walt Disney Co.