By Thamanna Sadique
JioStar united recently with the debut of JioHotstar, a joint venture formed by the merging of Viacom18 and Star India. By combining JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, two of India’s top platforms for entertainment, sports, and more, the platform has undergone a transformation.
This suggests that the platforms are connecting their subscribers and combining their material. The new site promises “nearly 3 lakh hours of entertainment, and more than 50 crore users,” according to a news release issued by JioStar.
“At the heart of JioHotstar is a powerful vision—to make premium entertainment truly accessible to all Indians,” said Kiran Mani, CEO, Digital, JioStar, in remarks marking the debut of the service. Entertainment will no longer be a privilege but rather a shared experience for everyone thanks to our promise of Infinite Possibilities. We are personalizing content like never before by including AI-driven suggestions and providing streaming in more than 19 languages.
JioHotstar announced that users of JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar will be able to switch to the new platform with ease. No other streaming service currently provides this feature, but JioHotstar will also compile content from companies including NBCUniversal Peacock, Warner Bros., Discovery, HBO, and Paramount in addition to its own original programming.
New subscription options will shortly replace JioHotstar’s previous ones. All subscribers’ previous JioCinema premium subscriptions, which cost ₹29 a month, were suspended a week ago. This had stoked expectations that the slabs and designs for the new platform would be different. ‘Attractive subscription plans catering to various audience needs, starting at Rs. 149/quarter’ are mentioned in the press notes, although JioStar has not yet revealed specific plans. According to the press release, current JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar customers can easily switch over and set up their JioHotstar subscriptions.
The subscription plans are supposed to be of three types, mobile plan, super plan, premium plan. In the mobile plan, the price of 3 months will be 149 Rs, and annual subscription of 499 Rs, accessible in one mobile. In the super plan, it will be accessible across all device platforms such as mobile, web and living room setting, although only two devices can be used at the same time, at a rate of 299 Rs for three months, and Rs 899 and premium plan of Rs 499 for three months with Rs 1,499 Ad-free viewing (except live sports/events) on up to four devices as annual subscription rate.