Why JioHotstar Needs Batting Depth

The Disney+Hotstar-JioCinema merger has created a streaming giant. But experts say it relies too much on IPL

- Lata Jha

In 1920s British-ruled India, scheming courtesans deftly navigate their way through a world of power, love and influence. Meanwhile, in the present day, an engineering graduate ends up working in the panchayat office of a remote village in a comic turn. A mafia don in the badlands of western Uttar Pradesh comes back from death's door to resume his bloody rivalry with a young upstart. Going back in time again, a detailed period drama gives audiences an intimate peek into the lives of renowned scientists Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai.

Leaning heavily on fiction and biopics, streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and SonyLIV have been keeping audiences hooked with original shows, which have grabbed viewers by the eyeballs. Netflix has also tapped its international programming, particularly the second season of the Korean hit show Squid Game, to keep viewers glued.

Unlike its competition, Disney+ Hotstar had stepped back from commissioning original programming over the past year in the runup to its impending merger with JioCinema. The latter, meanwhile, brought out some small-budget, fiction-based content. For the most part, however, it relied on sports programming, particularly the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 cricket tournament, and to a lesser extent the reality show Bigg Boss, to build its subscriber base.

But that could change now that Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema have come together.

Creating a behemoth

In February last year, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and The Walt Disney Co. formed a joint venture that they said would combine the businesses of Reliance's associate company, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd, and Disney's Star India. Nita M. Ambani would head the Reliance-Disney joint venture as its chairperson, while broadcast industry veteran Uday Shankar would be vice-chairperson.