JioCinema, owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is charging 999 Indian rupees ($12) yearly to compete with Netflix and Disney.
The decision comes weeks after Reliance’s Viacom18 secured a content deal with Warner Bros (WBD.O) to bring HBO and Warner properties, including “Succession” and Harry Potter, to JioCinema.
On Saturday, JioCinema announced increased premium pricing for Hollywood programming, including the long-awaited Succession series.
HBO’s top-rated shows, including Succession, aired in India on Disney Hotstar until March 31, when the partnership terminated.
JioCinema is popular for streaming the IPL cricket event free this season. The website states that only premium content is priced differently, while matches remain free.
Disney sold the 2023–2027 IPL internet streaming rights to Viacom18 for $2.9 billion.
Ambani is known for undercutting competitors in the price-sensitive Indian market.
Karan Taurani, a senior vice president of India’s Elara Capital specializing in media and entertainment, said Reliance’s streaming offer price was lower than rivals but needed more material to thrive.
“Only pure play HBO programming may not get a significant scale (of customers)… But, he said, “999 is at the lower end of the band; many of the other platforms are all in the range of 1,000 plus, and it goes up to 2,000” rupees.
Last month, Reuters reported that JioCinema is in talks with production companies to add dozens of Hindi and other language TV episodes and movies to the platform.
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