JioCinema crossed 15 mn paying subscribers in just 100 days of new pricing plans, says Mukesh Ambani

JioCinema revised its pricing strategy in April and now offers monthly plans ranging from Rs 29 to Rs 89, a substantial reduction from the earlier monthly pricing of Rs 99.

Streaming platform JioCinema has crossed 15 million paying subscribers within 100 days of launching new subscription plans, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said at the conglomerate's 47th annual general meeting (AGM) on August 29.

In April, JioCinema revised its pricing strategy and now offers monthly plans ranging from Rs 29 to Rs 89, a substantial reduction from the earlier monthly pricing of Rs 99.

The new pricing is significantly lower than that of rival platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5, Sony LIV, among others.

"JioCinema's new subscription pack is a game-changer... This is the fastest growth in this category," Ambani said.

Over the past year, Reliance has struck deals with media giants such as Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global, and NBC Universal to make JioCinema the exclusive streaming home for their respective content brands, which includes HBO, Warner Bros., Universal Television, Universal Pictures, and Dreamworks Animation.

In a push for kids' entertainment, Reliance also signed a deal with Pokemon Co. to show over 1,000 episodes and about 20 movies of the Japanese anime series Pokemon.

In June 2022, Viacom18 bagged the streaming rights for the IPL tournament for the 2023-2027 period and streamed the entire tournament for free on JioCinema last year.

The move resulted in the service registering a world record for the highest number of concurrent users for a cricket match at the time, drawing in more than 32 million simultaneous viewers during the IPL 2023 final match in May 2023. The record was subsequently broken by Disney+ Hotstar during the ICC World Cup 2023, which clocked 59 million concurrent viewers in November 2023.

During his AGM speech, Ambani said the second season of IPL on JioCinema was a "huge success".

"It reached 62 crore Indians. That is a 38 percent increase over the previous season. Total viewership grew by 50 percent. This made it the most-watched livestream event in the world" he said. Ambani said the success continued during the recently-concluded Paris Olympics without disclosing any specific details.

Reliance's overall media business crossed Rs 10,000 crore, registering a growth of 49 percent. Viacom18, its entertainment arm, recorded 62 percent growth driven by sports, the company said.

These figures are expected to grow further as the Ambani-led conglomerate prepares for a Rs 70,350-crore merger with Disney's Indian media assets, after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the deal on August 28.

Once the deal is completed, two of India’s largest streaming platforms - Disney+ Hotstar, which currently leads the country’s subscription-based video streaming market, and JioCinema, a prominent player in the ad-supported video streaming market - will have a single owner.

Disney+ Hotstar is currently the market leader in the country's hotly contested subscription-based video streaming market with 35.5 million paid subscribers as of June 2024.

The combined entity will capture about 85 percent of India’s video-streaming audience, according to analysts at brokerage firm Bernstein.

During his AGM speech, Ambani said the company's partnership with Disney marks the beginning of a "new era in India's entertainment industry".

"We are combining content creation with digital streaming. Our digital-first approach will deliver unparalleled content at affordable prices. We will cater to every consumer's tastes. We will provide world-class digital entertainment across the spectrum," he said.

"Just like Jio and Retail, our expanded Media business will be an invaluable growth centre in the Reliance ecosystem," Ambani said.

Disclosure: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.