JioHotstar, the video streaming platform by merging Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema, has reached 100 million paid subscribers, the company announced on Thursday.
Last February, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industies (RIL) and The Walt Disney Co. created a joint venture to combine Reliance’s Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd. with Disney’s Star India.
JioHotstar Hits 100 Million Subscribers After Disney-RIL Merger
After Disney sold its India assets to Reliance Industries (RIL), the merger into one platform, JioHotstar, was announced last month.
Nita M. Ambani leads the Reliance-Disney joint venture as its chairperson, and broadcast expert Uday Shankar is the vice-chairperson.
Kiran Mani, CEO of JioStar, said, “We’ve always believed that world-class entertainment should be available to everyone. Reaching 100 million subscribers shows we’re on the right track. This milestone highlights India’s potential and strengthens our commitment to creating unique experiences at a huge scale. As we grow and innovate, we focus on shaping the future of streaming and making it accessible to everyone, creating endless opportunities for millions of screens.”
JioHotstar’s Streaming Power: Bigger Than Netflix and Prime Video
The combined Reliance-Disney streaming platform is much bigger than Netflix in terms of total hours of programming, possibly three to four times larger. Experts believe they may even look to buy smaller, language-specific platforms that are struggling.
Their total number of paid subscribers is much higher than Netflix’s 15 million and Prime Video’s 18 million.
Unlike its competitors, Disney+ Hotstar had reduced the creation of new original content over the past year as it prepared for its merger with JioCinema. Meanwhile, JioCinema focused on releasing some small-budget, fictional content.
JioHotstar Faces Challenges in India’s Crowded Streaming Market
While the company is confident about its future, experts point out that, apart from sports and Bigg Boss, JioCinema (before merging with Disney+ Hotstar) was just adding more shows and movies without proper marketing or efforts to help users discover them.
Industry watchers believe JioHotsar ‘s broader strategy, especially for subscription -based viewers, needs more careful planning. There are challenges ahead in India’s crowded online streaming market.
