The Indian Media Joint Venture by Reliance Industries and Paramount Global - Viacom18’s streaming service, JioCinema, underwent a significant transformation in 2023. It culminated in a major merger that will reshape the Indian Streaming landscape and create a lucrative opportunity for content distributors looking to sell content, and other players exploring opportunities in the Indian market.
After securing the rights to broadcast the Fifa World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL), the country's biggest sporting event, JioCinema saw a surge in popularity whilst its competitors faced significant setbacks. Disney+Hotstar's subscriber base suffered a major blow (61.3M subs in Q3’2022 to 37.6M subs in Q3’2023) after losing digital rights to IPL and HBO content, opening the door for JioCinema to gain millions of new users.
The platform's strategic partnerships played a key role in its ascent last year. JioCinema has been offering Paramount content on its platform since may 2022 and in may 2023, it announced multi-year deals with NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing their content to the platform as well. These deals coincided with the IPL season, when JioCinema was drawing record numbers of users.
Amidst increasing competition, The failure to secure digital rights for various cricketing tournaments which bought in almost half of the viewership for the Disney-owned platform might have triggered the merger between The Walt Disney Company's India Business and Reliance Industries which was finalised in February this year. Their joint venture is now valued at 8.5 billion USD and together these ventures will have a predicted 40% market share. Reliance Industries has also committed to investing $1.4 billion in this joint venture, signalling their strength and confidence in the growing Indian OTT video market.
Despite the successes, the platform still faces challenges. JioCinema's aggressive pricing strategy offers a premium subscription for just 1 pence a day, echoing the approach of Jio Telecom in 2016-17. While this strategy may attract subscribers in price-sensitive markets like India, it could hinder investment in original content where local players like ZEE5 and AltBalaji shine.
Additionally, JioCinema needs to address playback and user interface issues to maintain its momentum. With the backing of its deep-pocketed parent company, these problems may be resolved, allowing JioCinema to compete more effectively against other streaming giants like Amazon and Netflix.
JioCinema's rise marks a significant shift in India's streaming landscape. As the industry continues to evolve, JioCinema's aggressive strategies may lead to further consolidation. With the backing of its strong parent company and a growing user base, JioCinema is poised to become a major player in the Indian streaming scene.
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