Reliance Ditching JioCinema For Disney+ Hotstar: Is That Good?

Reliance Jio is reportedly transferring all JioCinema content to the Disney+ Hotstar app, following the high-profile Reliance-Walt Disney deal valued at USD 8.5 billion. The merged platform will be called JioHotstar.

According to The Economic Times, the shift is largely due to Hotstar’s superior tech infrastructure, which will make JioHotstar the largest OTT platform in India, with 120 TV channels and over 200,000 hours of content.

But why did Jio sacrifice its own JioCinema app in favour of Disney+ Hotstar? Let’s break down some key reasons.

JioCinema and its endless stream of issues

According to the report, Reliance shared the decision internally with both JioCinema and Hotstar employees, stating Hotstar’s better backend technology as the main driver.

In the past, JioCinema has struggled with bugs and glitches, especially during major sports events where the app has crashed on multiple occassions, thereby hindering the viewing experience.

Another reason could be the massive paid user base on Hotstar.

According to TOI, Disney+ Hotstar boasted 35.5 million paid subscribers as of June 2024. In comparison, JioCinema had just 16 million subscribers. Monthly, JioCinema averaged 225 million active users whereas Hotstar had an impressive 333 million active users during Q4 2023.

Where will IPL stream?

Reports suggest that Reliance Jio explored several strategies to integrate JioCinema with Disney+ Hotstar. One idea was to turn JioCinema into a sports-only platform streaming events like the FIFA World Cup and IPL, while Disney+ Hotstar would focus only on entertainment. This approach may still be a part of the JioHotstar strategy, but it remains to be seen.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 edition will stream on this new combined platform. JioCinema’s rights to HBO content will also move to JioHotstar. Meanwhile, Viacom18 holds IPL streaming rights until 2027, and Star India retains the TV broadcasting rights for the same period.

The Reliance-Disney Deal Structure

Under the terms of the deal, Reliance Industries will hold a 56 per cent stake in Star, while Walt Disney retains a 37 per cent stake. The remaining 7 per cent will go to Uday Shankar and James Murdoch. Nita Ambani will serve as the Chairperson of this new entity.