Explained: The Amazon miniTV and MX Player merger

Amazon on Monday merged two free ad-supported video on demand (AVoD) services—MX Player and Amazon miniTV—into one service—Amazon MX Player. The global giant recently acquired certain assets of Times Internet-owned MX Player, including the MX Player app, a free streaming OTT service in India. With over 250 million unique users in India, the merger positions it as one of the largest free streaming services offering premium content in the country.

“With a combined library of hit shows ranging from Aashram, Dharavi Bank, Campus Diaries, Bhaukaal, Raktanchal, Shiksha Mandal, Roohaniyat, Jamnapaar, Dehati Ladke, Hunter, Gutar Gu, Naam Namak Nishaan, Physicswallah, and Yeh Meri Family, along with a large collection of popular Korean, Mandarin, and Turkish shows dubbed in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, Amazon MX Player is one of India’s top entertainment destinations,” a press release from the company stated. 

While the media statement doesn’t mention the valuation of the acquisition, an Inc42 report published in May 2024 mentions that the acquisition was finalised as an all-cash deal for a little over $100 million. This occurred during the final stages of the ecommerce giant's acquisition of the OTT platform. The publication also mentions that MX Player incurred a net loss of $100 million on revenues of $36.8 million in FY22. 

Amazon had been in talks to acquire MX Player since early 2023. However, the deal fell through in July 2023. According to a report by Live Mint, there were issues related to due diligence and a mismatch in valuation, leading MX Player to seek funding in the private market. Negotiations for the acquisition resumed earlier this year.

“Times Internet had asked for over $100 million (around Rs 833 crore) for MX Player, while Amazon’s internal team had valued it at $60 million (around Rs 500 crore),” the report mentions.

In September, Amazon changed the branding of miniTV on its social media platforms, with the account bio saying "Amazon MX Player is available on multiple surfaces—Amazon shopping app, Prime Video, Fire TV, Xiaomi Smart TVs, Google TV, Play Store, and App Store." The account also released a video to highlight the rebranding of the service.

A South Korean app developer originally created MX Player in 2011 as a media player for offline videos. It gained popularity in India for playing media files on a mobile device. In 2018, Times Internet, the digital arm of Times Group, acquired the platform for Rs 1,000 crore. 2019 saw its relaunch as an ad-supported video streaming app.

In 2019, the OTT platform received Rs 775 crore funding from Chinese internet giant Tencent and Times Internet. However, media reports suggest that it was not able to generate enough cash after that. Soon after, Times Internet started selling off some of its businesses, including its short-video platform MX Takatak, Dineout, MensXP, iDiva, and Hypp.

Meanwhile, Amazon launched Amazon miniTV, an ad-supported OTT platform, in May 2021. It targets small-town masses and is accessible on the Amazon shopping app, both for Android phone users and iPhone users.