Disney India was originally formed as a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Modi Enterprises in August $1993.$ However, the JV lasted only till $2003.$In August $2003,$ the companies ended the JV$,$ and the next year, Walt Disney Company $($India$)$ Pvt Ltd started its operations as a wholly$-$owned subsidiary.In $2004,$ Walt Disney launched its Disney Channel and Toon Disney channel in five languages in India. The Star Group entered a deal to distribute the channels in India.In July $2006,$ Disney India acquired a controlling stake in Hungama TV from UTV Software Communications Limited while also taking a $14\mathrm{.}9$ per cent share in UTV. In $2008,$ the company took an additional $17\mathrm{.}5$ per cent share in UTV.Later in $2012,$ it acquired the remaining shares of UTV for $$454$ million and formed a new holding company Walt Disney Company India, to manage UTV and other businesses.However, soon in $2016,$ it indicated that it was shutting down UTV Motion Pictures, its Hindi film production unit. It said it would focus only on Hollywood movies. In $2017,$ the company announced a restructuring of its Asia business and combined India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam under its South Asia division.Later the same year, it launched Disney International HD to provide Disney original content. In $2018,$ however, it launched another HD channel UTV HD$,$ for Hindi as well as English movies.However, the company's biggest deal came in December $2017$ when it announced the acquisition of Ruper Murdoch's $21$st Century Fox for $$52\mathrm{.}4$ billion. Among other key assets, the acquisition included the $20$th Century Fox film and television studios, US cable channels such as FX$,$ Fox Networks Group, a $73$ per cent stake in National Geographic Partners, Indian television broadcaster Star India, and a $30$ per cent stake in Hulu.The deal also brought Hotstar to Disney. Moreover, it also got a $30$ per cent stake in Tata Play $($formerly called Tata Sky$).$ The deal was completed in $2019.$On April $14,2022,$ Star India was rebranded as Disney Star. Later, it announced its plans to shut down the UTV brand with UTV Movies, UTV HD and UTV Action being replaced by Star Gold Romance, the HD feed of Star Gold $2$ and Star Gold Thrills, respectively.Disney also launched Disney Jeans, its clothing brand in India, in $2006$ with Indus Clothing. It also distributes its official merchandise with Funskool, the Indian distributor of American toy maker Hasbro.After Star India's acquisitionIn india, Disney's investments have struggled to make good profits. Disney$+$Hotstar last year announced that it would no longer be able to telecast HBO content on its platform. It also lost the digital rights to broadcast the Indian Premier League to Reliance Jio.With a large chunk of content gone, the platform has seen a rapid depletion in the number of subscribers.With the latest news, it is expected that the company is facing issues with Disney Star too.International entertainment acquisitionsWalt Disney, however, has also acquired several big international entertainment companies.In $2006,$ it acquired animation giant Pixar for $$7\mathrm{.}4$ billion. Some of its prominent productions include Toy Story, The Incredibles series, Finding Nemo, and Inside Out. The firm has won multiple Academy Awards,Golden Globe Awards, and Grammy Awards for its productions.Later in $2009,$ Walt Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment which makes movies under the Marvel Studios brand. Some of their productions are The Avenger series and Thor: Ragnarok.What strategyGlobally, Disney wants to let go of linear to focus on streaming, but more so in a market as strongly local asIndia. In the years since it acquired Star, much of it is being run out of Disney's headquarters in Burbank, sayinsiders. The centralised decision making doesn't work for a market like India. Probably, Disney realises that and, therefore, wants an ally that can leverage this better. However, analysts say that this in no way is a distress call given Star's strength in entertainment. There are several potential partners, says one insider. Sony Pictures Networks, the entertainment arm of the $$86$ billion Sony Corp, is housed in Culver City,California very close to Burbank. But it is already committed to buying Zee. There is a buzz around Viacom$18$ and Comcast, but much of this may be speculation. Still, these companies have the balance sheet strength to take on an asset the size of Disney$-$Star, say analysts.Viacom$18$ is a joint venture between Reliance Industries, Paramount Global, and Bodhi Tree Systems $-$ a platform co$-$owned by James Murdoch's Lupa Systems and former Disney$-$Star India chief executive Uday Shankar. The Murdoch$-$Shankar team took Star from Rs $1,600$ crore in $2006-07$ to more than Rs $14,000$ crore in $2017-18,$ when the sale took place.Hotstar was another key asset in the Fox sale. Of Disney's $160$ million subscribers globally, India brings in more than $40$ million. That is down from $50$ million in early $2022.$These subscribers average a revenue of $59$ cents, compared to the global average of $$4\mathrm{.}44$ and more thanThese subscribes average a revenue of $59$ conts, compared to the global average of $$444$ and more than $$7$In the US$.$ Many subscribers on Disney came in only because of the IPL estimates that in $2023$ Disney could lose $15$ million subscribers in India. But the loss ofMedia Partners Asia IPL, not bidding for which was Burbank's decision, is a passing thing in the broader India growth story. There are $510$ million over the top $($OTT$,$ which is another name for streaming platforms$)$ viewers in India, more than $110$ million of which are subscribers. It is a Rs $22,000$ crore market and growing rapidly.Why then would Disney, which is investing billions into streaming, want to exit this market in India? We do not have the answer as of now, only the buzz.