Offering Hollywood films and TV series for as low as one rupee per day, Mukesh Ambani's JioCinema might upend India's streaming market, which has more than one billion users.
According to the deal, which is a brand-new promotion, the company will continue to provide live content for free, such cricket events. The streaming service, which is owned by Viacom18 Media Pvt., an affiliate of Reliance, reduced its monthly fee by two-thirds to Rs 29.
With an agreement with Disney to combine India TV and streaming assets, as well as content arrangements with companies like Warner Bros Discovery and NBCUniversal, JioCinema would be better positioned to compete with Netflix and Amazon thanks to the aggressive pricing.
According to Kiran Mani, CEO of Viacom18's digital business, the plan includes online and offline watching in 4K resolution for international films, TV shows, and children's programming on any device in five languages.
Free local programming will run advertisements. While Netflix and Amazon are more costly than Jio's membership options, they do not intercut commercials with episodes or movies.
"For a family with four simultaneous screen access, we are also offering 89 rupees a month," Mani stated.
"We aim to make JioCinema a daily viewing habit for the family members as accessible and inexpensive as we can for Indians," he continued.
A deal was struck last year between Viacom18 Media and Warner Bros Discovery to broadcast the latter's exclusive content in India. This included episodes of Succession and The Last of Us in addition to other HBO and Max Original programming.
The biggest collection of kid-friendly media is available here. We most likely have one of the greatest collections of Hollywood productions, Mani said. "People are watching more and more shows like Oppenheimer, House of the Dragon, and similar ones in their native tongue,"
JioCinema is also a major wagerer in the Indian Premier League cricket competition, offering free streaming for all of the games this season. The combination of a highly anticipated cricket match, which has the potential to attract millions of viewers, and a fast wireless network will significantly boost Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., the leading cellular provider in India. Senior analyst and Vice President Karan Taurani of brokerage company Elara Capital projects that the digital streaming market will be worth $3–3.5 billion, its worldwide library will be worth $0.5–1 billion, and the TV market will be worth $5.5 billion.
"JioCinema will take off thanks to the IPL," said Mani, who oversaw Google's Android business in the Asia Pacific area before. Three years ago, 120 million screens in India were used to watch sports. India will reach 500 million screens this year.
In addition, JioCinema launched a highly visible and well-received campaign that asks viewers, "Toh Aaj Kya Plan Hai?" The ad illustrates the primary advantages of JioCinema Premium while highlighting the anxiety that modern customers feel while selecting an entertainment package.
