Following the merger of Star India and Viacom18, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance is reportedly set to keep Disney+ Hotstar as its primary streaming platform, sources familiar with the matter told The Economic Times. As a result, JioCinema, Reliance's current streaming service, would join with Disney+ Hotstar to develop a single streaming platform for the two companies.
The action is part of the February 2024 announcement of a $8.5 billion merger between Reliance and Walt Disney's media businesses in India. The resulting media behemoth will control two significant streaming services and over 100 TV stations.
Jio Cinema has barely 100 million downloads on the Google Play Store, compared to over 500 million for Disney+ Hotstar. In February, Reliance and Walt Disney inked the Viacom18 and Star merger deal. With a net worth of $8.5 billion following the merger, the company will run two streaming platforms and more than 100 channels. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Jio Cinema had about 225 million monthly customers, while Disney+ Hotstar had 333 million members, according to Reliance's annual report.
Disney+ Hotstar had 35.5 million paying members as of June. This figure rose to 61 million subscribers throughout the IPL. Jio Cinema was formerly formed by the merger of Viacom18's other OTT channels, notably Voot.
