Reliance Big Entertainment buys majority stake in US-based cricket portal Willow TV

"We are also looking at launching a Video-Box Service which will seamlessly integrate cricket, movie and television content on the television screen which would give our audience great choice and enhanced viewing experience. There is a considerable synergy between cricket from Willow TV, movies from Bigflix.com, and telecom services from Reliance Communications which will be now ignited," he said.

Reliance ADA Group has already made inroads in the US through its network of 250 theaters operating under the name Adlabs, and its movie rental and movie download service BigFlix. It has also planned a joint venture with Steven Spielberg and his DreamWorks SKG team. The company has also partnered with production houses run by Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Nicolas Cage, George Clooney, Jim Carrey and other Hollywood stars for development and co-financing of some of the film projects as well as securing the Indian distribution rights.

In April this year, Reliance Entertainment made its first overseas foray in the digital service space by acquiring the digital images business of US-based DTS Inc. for an undisclosed amount. The American firm's business DTS Digital Images (DDI), also known as Lowry Digital Images, offers services in digital restoration and enhancement of moving pictures and makes use of proprietary tools and algorithms.

DDI counts Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, MGM and 20th Century Fox, among others, as its clients.

Willow TV, with over one million registered users, is the world's largest cricket portal that offers live streaming video of cricket matches to cricket fans for fees ranging anywhere from between $10 for a short series to $150 a full cricket tournament, depending on the countries and number of games involved. It has an office in Bangalore, India.

According to industry analysts, Willow TV competes with bigger rival Cricinfo, a top ranked cricket website that was acquired last year by leading sports broadcaster ESPN from the Wisden Group for an undisclosed sum.