Reliance’s JioHotstar takes its streaming empire global — without sports

JioHotstar, the streaming platform controlled by Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, is taking its brand outside India for the first time and will replace Hotstar in the UK, Canada, and Singapore as it begins a wider global push.

The streaming service will launch with more than 160,000 hours of entertainment content but without the live sports that have helped drive its massive audience in India, including the Indian Premier League (IPL), Women’s Premier League (WPL), and Indian national cricket matches. JioStar said it is not offering sports at launch because of existing content deals, but did not rule out adding them in the future.

The absence of sports at its global debut marks a significant difference from JioHotstar’s offering in India, where the company says it has more than 500 million monthly active users and sports is a major audience draw. The service streams some of India’s biggest cricket events alongside the English Premier League, tennis tournaments including Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and domestic leagues for sports such as kabaddi and hockey.

JioStar confirmed to TechCrunch that starting September 2, Hotstar will “cease to exist” in the UK, Canada, and Singapore, with JioHotstar replacing it. Hotstar users in the three markets will no longer be able to access the service through the Hotstar app, though their existing login credentials will work on JioHotstar, the company said. The JioHotstar app will be available in all three markets through the App Store and Google Play Store on mobile devices, as well as on connected TVs.

For years, Hotstar has operated internationally, including in the UK and Canada. It also previously had a standalone service in the U.S. before shutting it down in 2021. However, JioHotstar is not launching in the U.S. as part of this initial international rollout. The company plans to expand into additional overseas markets over time.

JioHotstar will launch with a trove of Indian films, TV originals, and reality shows like Bigg Boss, along with live TV channels under the Star banner such as Star Plus, Colors, Star Vijay, Asianet, Star Jalsha, and Star Pravah. The company said its content is available in 12 languages, including English, Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, and Marathi, with dubs and translations also available.

In 2024, Reliance merged its media assets with Disney to form an $8.5 billion joint venture. As part of the deal, streaming services Hotstar and JioCinema merged to create JioHotstar for Indian consumers. At the time, the two services accounted for 85% of the streaming audience in India.

Data from India’s Ministry of External Affairs suggests that across the three countries where JioHotstar is launching, the service could have a target audience of more than 4 million people. Some of its content could also appeal to the borader South Asian diaspora.

“South Asian audiences have a deep connection with Indian entertainment across languages, generations, and households. At the same time, audiences globally are increasingly seeking stories and cultures beyond their own. We see an opportunity to build for this broader, underserved global audience – not simply export an Indian streaming service to new markets,” JioStar’s Head of International Business Amit Malhotra said.

JioStar has priced JioHotstar at £19.99 (about $27) quarterly and £69.99 (around $95) annually in the UK. In Canada, subscriptions cost CA$19.99 (about $14) quarterly and CA$49.99 (around $36) annually, while in Singapore they cost SG$29.98 (about $24) and SG$69.98 (around $55), respectively. The prices are similar to what Hotstar charges, but JioHotstar will offer only entertainment content at launch. Customers who want sports may have to pay extra for another service.

By comparison, JioHotstar subscriptions in India start at ₹79 (about $0.80) a month for viewing on a single mobile device and go up to ₹2,199 (around $23) a year for its top-tier plan.