JioStar Launches JioHotstar merging Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema, kick-starting a new giant streaming platform - Details inside

The world has been busy tracking every movie as it processes a smooth transition between JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. We are indeed talking about one of the most iconic mergers of the decade, headlined by Reliance and executed under their company JioStar, which will now be unveiling JioHotstar—a platform derived from JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, offering audiences the best of both worlds at highly affordable rates. This move will undoubtedly place the streaming platform on the world map, posing competition for Netflix, Amazon, and other major players. Read on to know everything you should about the same.

JioStar Launches JioHotstar

It all started back in 2024 when Reliance Industries and Disney executed their much-anticipated merger, forming JioStar. Valued at a whopping $8.5 billion, the merger combined Disney's Star India with Reliance's Viacom 18 and their respective platforms. The country had been waiting for this for a long time, but roadblocks led to delays. Now, we finally have JioHotstar in place.

Kiran Mani (CEO Digital), Kevin Vaz (CEO Broadcast Entertainment), and Sanjog Gupta (CEO Sports) will be leading JioHotstar, as per Variety. Talking about this giant leap and how it represents a new anomaly in India, Kiran Mani said, "I think the real question you're asking is: what happens when three of us disagree on something? India is a unique market with over a billion screens to serve. As a company, it's actually a conglomeration of many, many businesses and many, many media and entertainment opportunities."

The unified platform, launching Feb. 14, boasts nearly 300,000 hours of content and claims a user base exceeding 500 million. The move comes just before the IPL season, which typically begins around March-April each year. Sanjog Gupta, who heads the Sports Wing, said, "If you think about the multiple business units, or the businesses that the three of us manage, they're at very different stages of their journey in terms of evolution. They also deal with unique realities, both externally and internally, which require a deep level of expertise to be managed. So while optically, you're looking at three of us sitting here, it's actually three highly specialized organizations that are pulling in the same direction."

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What Do JioHotstar Subscriptions Look Like?

The idea is to make JioHotstar affordable and accessible to the masses. The platform has set its prices lower than all other leading platforms at the moment. The plans start at Rs 149 for three months and Rs 499 per year for a single device. The most expensive plan covers four devices at Rs 499 for three months and Rs 1,499 for a year. As of now, there are no details on whether the platform will adopt a rental service like Amazon. However, it remains highly affordable compared to Netflix's Rs 199 plan for a single device and Amazon Prime Video’s Rs 299 monthly plan with no device limit.

JioHotstar Content Plan

JioHotstar is moving ahead with an impressive content strategy, aiming to release 2-3 original series every month, along with one marquee content drop per month and 1-2 movies per quarter. This seems achievable, considering the platform now houses Disney, Marvel, HBO, DCU, Warner Bros, NBCUniversal Peacock, and Discovery HBO.

JioHotstar is planning 40 to 50 originals specifically for South Indian markets. "Till last year, we were producing approximately 500 hours of content in regional languages. We will take that up to 1,100 hours," said Vaz. They also plan to expand actively into reality TV, producing shows like Bigg Boss in multiple languages.

What Is Sparks?

Venturing into short-form content, JioHotstar has introduced a new section, Sparks, which launched on February 14. It will feature India's top digital creators and offer them more creative freedom and IP-based opportunities across multiple episodes and shows. Creators like Munawar Faruqi, Uorfi Javed, and Ranveer Brar already have shows lined up.

The applications have already transitioned, and content is now available exclusively on the Disney+ Hotstar app, which has been rebranded as JioHotstar. JioCinema will no longer function and will redirect users to JioHotstar.

Stay tuned to OTTplay for more updates from the world of streaming and films.

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