ROGER IRWIN

Image Source: yahoo! fiance

While others are playing the Content Game (MAX and Disney), Peacock is increasing its technological assets. Recently, they have made headlines with the investment of Bodhi Tree Systems, as well as doubling down on VR streaming integration via Meta. 

Last year, Bodhi Tree Media was launched by former Fox CEO James Murdoch along with ex-Star and Disney India Chairman Uday Shankar. Bodhi Tree’s platform is integral to Viacom18, one of the largest entertainment and media streamers in India, which is a joint venture between Paramount Global and Network18 Group, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. The ownership structure of Viacom 18 is Reliance at 51%, Paramount just under 49%, and Bondi Tree at .11%.  

Despite the small shareholding of Bodhi Tree, it appears that their role is much larger than appears to the eye. If all shares are diluted, they apparently own 13.1% of the company, and will be contributing about $ 633 million or $538 million (according to Variety) of the $1.9 billion Viacom 18 has set for growth. Due to the large amount of money Bondi Media has declared themselves to contribute, they have stated that they would be approaching other companies to invest in this opportunity. In this case, Comcast has become a notable investor.  

Comcast is set to put forward 200 million dollars towards Bodhi Tree. Viacom18 plans “to innovate and disrupt the media and entertainment sector [and] leverage their track record of building iconic media businesses’” once they fundraise $1.89 billion. That being said, it is still unclear what exactly they will do and how Comcast will benefit from this investment.  Thus far, Bondi Tree along with Viacom18 have disrupted the industry by offering the Premier League Cricket tournament for free on JioCinema in competition with Disney’s Star Television.  They have also placed a nearly $3 billion bid for digital rights to the IPL Cricket Series. 

Through Comcast investing in Bondi Tree, they will be able to learn how other major players are positioning themselves in India as well as how live sports like cricket are being commodified. Concerning VR integration, they are joining Netflix, Prime Video, and Showtime as streamers that are currently being listed through Oculus.

Word Count: 363