RIL’s entertainment arm JioStar has merged JioCinema and Disney+Hotstar to form one consolidated platform called JioHotstar that would bring all streaming platforms in the group under one umbrella.
“This coming together of brands, expansive content, cutting-edge features, and a large audience and subscriber base marks a globally unprecedented milestone in the streaming industry,” the company said in a statement.
The mega platform has more than 50 crore users offering 3 lakh hours of entertainment, spanning sports, entertainment and much more.
The company said JioHotstar provided ‘compelling subscription plans tailored to diverse audience needs’, starting at ₹149. Existing JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar subscribers will be able to seamlessly transition and set up their JioHotstar subscriptions.
Speaking on the launch of JioHotstar, Kiran Mani, CEO of Digital at JioStar, said, “At the core of JioHotstar is a powerful vision—to make premium entertainment truly accessible to all Indians. Our promise of Infinite Possibilities ensures that entertainment is no longer a privilege, but a shared experience for all. By integrating AI-driven recommendations and offering streaming in over 19 languages, we are personalising content like never before.”
JioHotstar will offer provide content from Disney, NBCUniversal Peacock, Warner Bros. Discovery HBO, and Paramount in 10 languages, “something almost no other streaming service globally provides,” said the company in a press release.
It will also offer access to premier tournaments like International Cricket Council (ICC) events, Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women’s Premier League (WPL), along with grassroot cricket with the Indian Street Premier League and pathway events from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), ICC, and state associations. Besides cricket, viewers can watch the Premier League and Wimbledon as well as Pro Kabaddi and Indian Super League (ISL).
Sanjog Gupta, CEO of Sports at JioStar, said, “JioHotstar is revolutionising how fans experience live sports, combining the best of technology, access, and innovation. Whether it’s the high-octane IPL, the drama of the Champions Trophy, or the electric atmosphere of a Premier League showdown, we are committed to delivering an experience that is as immersive as being in the stadium itself. We saw this innovation extend beyond sports with the overwhelming response to Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres livestream.”
Speaking about the merged entity, Lloyd Mathias, Marketer & Business Strategist, said this process of consolidation in the Indian entertainment and media industry, specifically in terms of OTTs, will set a new benchmark.
“The combined entity will displace Amazon Prime, Netflix, Zee5, Sony Liv. However, when it comes to catching eyeballs, YouTube will still continue to be a major streaming platform. People do watch a lot of content on YouTube as well. Still the new platform will tower over local OTT players,” he said, adding that live events will become almost a monopoly in light of these developments.
However, Ajimon Francis, Managing Director at Brand Finance, said players like Sony still have a chance considering their sports offering, although the entity is not as aggressive with its content strategy.
“Sony is more confident about what they want to do, what they want to offer,” said Francis.
Following the merger, ad rates Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 were reported to have spied by 25-30 per cent compared to last year. However, in response to these concerns of ad rate inflation, Francis maintained that the ad rates are unlikely to impact advertiser very badly considering price fluctuations in IPL season.
“The excitement for IPL dips towards the middle, then it picks up again towards the qualifier, final. So, in totality, changes in ad rates won’t hit folks as much. Whatever increase in ad rates will happen will be organic,” he said.
