Ambani’s JioCinema unveils pricing in fight with Netflix, Disney

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Written by Aditya Kalra and Aftab Ahmed

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s streaming platform JioCinema has announced premium pricing of INR999 ($12) per year, the first step away from the free-to-air content model to battle global rivals like Netflix and Disney in the country.

The move comes weeks after Reliance subsidiary Viacom18 struck a content deal with Warner Bros, which will make popular HBO and Warner titles like “Succession” and those featuring the character Harry Potter available on the JioCinema platform.

JioCinema website on Saturday showed off the premium new pricing for Hollywood content, with the long-awaited succession series available for streaming.

Several of HBO’s top-rated shows, including Succession, aired in India on the Disney Hotstar platform until March 31 as part of a deal between the two companies that expired on that date.

JioCinema has become popular for showing IPL cricket tournament on the platform for free in the current season. The new price, according to the website, is only for premium content, while matches will continue to stream for free.

Viacom18 won the digital broadcast rights to the IPL from 2023 to 2027 for about $2.9 billion, rights previously held by Disney.

Ambani has a reputation for baffling competitors in the price-sensitive Indian market with cheap offerings.

Karan Turani, senior vice president of Elara Capital, an Indian company that specializes in the media and entertainment sectors, said Reliance’s live-streaming bid price was lower versus competitors, but more content was needed to be successful.

“Only with pure playback HBO content, you may not get widespread (from customers)… 999 is definitely at the lower end of the range, many other platforms, they are all in the 1,000-plus range and go up to Rs 2,000,” he said.

Reuters reported last month that JioCinema is in talks with several production studios and has plans to offer dozens of TV shows and movies on the platform in the coming months, in Hindi and other languages.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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