Reliance acquires 75 percent stake in U. S. website

Mumbai: Reliance ADA Group of India has strengthened its footprint in the U.S. entertainment industry by buying a U.S. web site called Willow TV which lets cricket fans around the world watch their favorite teams play.

According to a report appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Reliance will spend $60 million to $70 million to purchase 75 percent of California-based Willow TV and expand its operations, said Rajesh Sawhney, President of Reliance Entertainment, a unit of Reliance ADA.

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With more than one million registered users, Willow TV is the world's largest live streaming video site for cricket that gives subscribers the ability to watch almost any major cricket game live for a fee. It also has offices in India's technology capital - Bangalore.

Willow TV is part of Reliance's plans to bring cricket, movies and long-distance phone service to South Asians in the U.S. and elsewhere through their computers and phones.

"What we are looking to do is to create a triple play, using three passions that South Asians have," Sawhney said in a phone interview. "One is cricket, one is movies, and the third is communications, as they are the ones who call their families back home mostly."

Reliance is already distributing Indian movies to consumers through its network of 250 theaters in the U.S. as well as its Web site BigFlix.

Reliance has so far focused its U.S. efforts on Hollywood, which includes plans for a joint venture with Steven Spielberg and his DreamWorks SKG team, and partnerships with production houses run by Nicolas Cage, Tom Hanks and other big U.S. stars.