RIL is considering the idea of merging its content with JioCinema to create a more robust, unified platform, despite Disney+ Hotstar having a larger user base.
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is planning to operate just one over-the-top (OTT) platform—JioCinema, following the proposed merger with Star India’s Disney+ Hotstar, reported The Economic Times.
This decision by RIL is seen as a move to consolidate content and resources into a single, more robust platform, streamlining its services.
Currently, Disney+ Hotstar, owned by Walt Disney’s Star India, is one of India’s most popular streaming services, with over 500 million downloads on the Google Play Store.
In comparison, JioCinema, under Viacom18 (a company controlled by RIL), has over 100 million downloads.
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Despite Disney+ Hotstar’s larger user base, RIL is considering combining its content with JioCinema to create a stronger, unified platform.
The idea behind this is to reduce operational costs and enhance efficiency by not running two separate streaming services. The combined platform would be better positioned to compete with global giants like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video.
This development comes after RIL and Walt Disney signed a deal earlier this year to merge Star India and Viacom18, forming a media conglomerate valued at around $8.5 billion.
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The merged entity would control over 100 TV channels and two OTT platforms, but RIL appears to favour focusing on just one platform—JioCinema.
The merger is still awaiting regulatory approval from bodies such as the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). To mitigate concerns about the new entity’s market dominance, RIL is also open to the idea of shutting down some Hindi and regional language TV channels.
According to RIL’s 2023 annual report, JioCinema had an average of 225 million monthly users, while Disney+ Hotstar had 333 million active users in the last quarter of 2023.
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However, Disney+ Hotstar has seen a significant drop in its paid subscriber base, falling from 61 million at its peak to 35.5 million as of June 2024. This decline is partly attributed to the loss of streaming rights for popular content, including the Indian Premier League (IPL) and HBO shows.
Despite the challenges faced by Disney+ Hotstar, JioCinema has been rapidly gaining traction, especially after securing digital rights to the IPL, which brought record-breaking viewership to the platform. RIL’s chairman Mukesh Ambani has pointed to this success as evidence of JioCinema’s potential to attract large audiences quickly.
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Should the content from Disney+ Hotstar be merged into JioCinema, the latter could emerge as India’s largest streaming service, offering a vast library of over 125,000 hours of entertainment, sports, and Hollywood content.
This new platform would include important sports rights, such as the IPL, along with content from major studios like Disney, HBO, NBCUniversal, and Paramount Global.
RIL has a history of consolidating its digital assets to strengthen its market position. For instance, the company previously merged other streaming services, like Voot, into JioCinema. Recently, JioCinema was transferred to Viacom18 following a court-approved deal that also involved a Rs 15,145 crore investment from RIL and Bodhi Tree Systems into Viacom18.
