Warner Bros, Discovery and Viacom18 have recently announced a multi-year agreement that will make JioCinema India’s new streaming home for HBO, Max Original, and Warner Bros. content starting from May. The partnership marks a major win for Mukesh Ambani, one of India’s wealthiest and politically influential businessmen, as his company Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) owns Viacom18 and the JioCinema streaming platform, along with India’s dominant cellular phone and broadband internet providers.
This agreement replaces the previous deal with Star TV, owned by Disney, which expired at the end of March. According to sources, most of HBO’s content has been absent from Indian airwaves since the beginning of this month, with only a few shows licensed to third parties. The new partnership will include current and future seasons of HBO’s popular series, including “House of The Dragon,” “Succession,” “The Last of Us,” and “The White Lotus,” as well as returning seasons of “True Detective: Night Country,” “Euphoria,” “Perry Mason,” and “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.”
The deal also features HBO original series, such as “The Idol,” “The Sympathizer,” “White House Plumbers,” and “The Regime,” along with popular library titles like “Game of Thrones,” “Chernobyl,” “Veep,” “Sex & The City,” and “Big Little Lies.” In addition, Max Original series, such as “And Just Like That…,” “Peacemaker,” and “The Flight Attendant,” and Warner Bros. Television series, such as “East New York” and “Gotham Knights,” will be included in the agreement.
Clement Schwebig, President, India, Southeast Asia, and Korea at Warner Bros. Discovery, expressed his excitement about the partnership, stating that the brands of Warner Bros. Discovery are incredibly popular across India, and this new agreement demonstrates their commitment to South Asia as they seek to entertain audiences across more platforms. Ferzad Palia, Head of SVOD and International Business at Viacom18, added that their strategic partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery is a big milestone in their journey to offer the best of Hollywood content to their elite consumers.
JioCinema currently operates as an ad-supported platform that aggregates content from suppliers, including AltBalaji, Eros Now, Paramount, Shemaroo Entertainment, and Viacom18. The platform is expected to start charging subscription fees later this year. In addition to this, JioCinema has also started to increase its own film and TV production efforts. Earlier this month, it announced a slate of 100 pieces of content in Hindi and various Indian regional languages.
Last year, Viacom18 won an online auction for two packages of digital rights to Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket for $3 billion. This win, along with the partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, gives RIL more leverage to change the Indian broadcasting landscape and tip the balance further in favor of streaming while undermining Disney’s position in the world’s most populous nation. The IPL tournament is currently underway, with JioCinema streaming the games in a free-of-charge, ad-supported format, while Star offers the same games (with ads) behind a paywall.