Entertainment- Viacom18’s digital streaming platform
JioCinema said itsIPL 2023 videos have recorded over 1,300 crore views in the first five weeks. - So far, 56 out of the 74 matches have been played, and the league is entering its final phase.
- Two matches involving the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings recorded the highest number of concurrent users.
Viacom18 is the digital streaming partner of IPL after having bagged the digital rights for the 2023-27 cycle for $2.7 billion. The IPL 2023 season is streaming for free, giving users access to matches in several Indian languages as well as English. In addition to these, JioCinema also offers the ability to use different modes like 360-degree, spider cam, bowler point of view, among others.
“JioCinema continues to grow from strength to strength every week and it is based on clear evidence of consumer’s outright preference of catching the Tata IPL on digital [platforms],” said Viacom18 Sports CEO Anil Jayaraj.
In terms of concurrent users – that is, users watching the match simultaneously – JioCinema recorded a peak of 2.4 crore users in the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) match on April 17, beating the previous record 2.23 crore viewers in the CSK vs Rajasthan Royals just five days earlier.
It is worth noting that while JioCinema’s statistics talk about video views, Disney Star’s statistics refer to users, so the two are not directly comparable.
Pulling another coup on Disney, Viacom18 entered into a multi-year agreement in April with Warner Bros. Discovery to make JioCinema the new home of HBO in India.
Starting May, JioCinema users will be able to stream HBO, Max Original and Warner Bros content on the app. In addition to this, JioCinema users will also get access to extremely popular movies and shows like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Succession, and animation series like Tom & Jerry Kids and Dexter’s Laboratory, among others.
Making the announcement, Ferzad Palia, head - SVOD & International Business, Viacom18, said, “We are now on a mission to build the most magnetic destination for entertainment for all Indians.”
With a growing content library thanks to sports like IPL, FIFA World Cup, LaLiga, MotoGP 2023, and now HBO content, JioCinema has been spotted testing a premium subscription plan.
In April, a test website of JioCinema revealed the company’s premium plans, which start from as low as ₹2 per day, with the top tier platinum plan costing ₹599 per annum.
This is cheaper than what other top players like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar are charging – while Netflix starts at ₹1,788 per year for its mobile plan, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar charge ₹1,499 per year.
That said, JioCinema’s premium plans are not yet live on the platform and it’s not known when or if they will be launched. All eyes will be on the company for more details.
The loss of IPL and now HBO has eaten significantly into Disney+ Hotstar’s subscriber base – according to the company, Disney+ Hotstar lost 4.6 million subscribers in the March quarter, increasing from the 3.8 million loss in the December quarter.
Elara Capital’s Karan Taurani has projected that by the end of 2023, Disney+ Hotstar is likely to lose 15 million subscribers, falling to 43 million. From the existing subscriber base of 53 million, Disney+ Hostar is likely to lose another 10 million subscribers over the next three quarters.
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