JioHotstar: Ahead of the highly-anticipated Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, JioStar is reportedly in discussions with Telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea. The largest media conglomerate, JioStar, plans to bundle its streaming subscriptions with data plans. After these partnerships are finalized, users will be able to access the premium JioHotstar content without the need for separate subscriptions, according to the people.
Securing these tie-ups mean reaching the goal of over 1 billion viewers across TV and other digital platforms during the upcoming IPL season. Reports revealed that the IPL viewership recorded an impressive surge in viewership last year with Jio Cinema reaching 620 million viewers and Star Sports network touching 541 million.
As per experts, further growth in data consumption will be drawn if over-the-top (OTT) subscriptions are tied-up with prepaid and postpaid data plans. Economic Times quoted an executive familiar with the discussions, stating, “These telecom partnerships will help JioHotstar reach a large internet audience base, especially now that it’s behind a paywall.” The renewal of JioHotstar’s content deal with Airtel which expired recently is seen as a crucial move for sustaining the growth of the platform.
In terms of subscribers, Jio leads with 476.58 million while Airtel and Vi with 289.31 million and 26.38 million broadband subscribers, respectively, according to TRAI data. Currently, Jio offers three prepaid plans of Rs 100, 195 and 949 with limited access of JioHotstar- each including 90-days subscription. However, on the collaboration, JioStar, Airtel, Vi and Jio has not yet officially released any statement.
At present, JioHotstar has three subscription plans – Mobile at Rs 499/year), Super at Rs 899/year, and Premium at Rs 1,499/year. The Premium plan allows users to stream ad-free, except for live events such as sports, etc. Jio’s regular Rs 149 plan with 20 days of validity and 1 GB of data per day offers limited access to mobile phones. Though the Rs 100 data-only pack, users can stream web series, movies, and live sports—including the upcoming IPL 2025 – on both smartphones and smart TVs (up to 1080p resolution). Meanwhile, Jio Hotstar’s standalone Super plan costs Rs 299 without an existing Jio Hotstar subscription. Users will receive a total of 5GB of high-speed internet with this pack.
Reliance has made a strategic move to attract viewers to JioHotstar as live cricket was earlier only available for streaming on Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema. Mukesh Ambani’s Jio and Hotstar have been in the news since they merged. The new company is called JioStar. JioStar is breaking many records one after another. The latest numbers are really surprising. JioStar set several records during the Champions Trophy, which Disney Hotstar could never achieve.
Also Read: JioHotstar Breaks All Records, Sets A New Benchmark In The Industry
