Succession, other exclusive HBO and Warner Bros content coming to Jio Cinema soon
2 min read . Updated: 27 Apr 2023, 02:03 PM IST
PremiumReliance's Viacom18 has reached an exclusive deal with Warner Bros Discovery. The deal is expected to see most of Warner's marquee content being made available on JioCinema, including titles such as Succession, Game of Thrones and the upcoming Harry Potter series.
Reliance, the Indian conglomerate, has reportedly secured a deal with Warner Bros Discovery Inc. for its streaming service JioCinema. The move is seen as a major push by Reliance to bring in popular Hollywood content to the platform. Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed the development.
According to Reuters, their sources have revealed that Reliance's Viacom18 has entered into a deal with Warner Bros that will bring its HBO content to the JioCinema app. Popular shows like Succession, Game of Thrones, and the upcoming Harry Potter series will be available on the platform. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed by either party.
The partnership is said to be exclusive, meaning that most of Warner's top-rated content will be available only on JioCinema. As per one source, Warner will not be able to offer its popular titles to other Indian rivals, including Amazon Prime Video and Disney Hotstar. The source added that this is a significant agreement, which will make JioCinema the go-to platform for Warner and HBO content in India.
Warner and Viacom18 declined to comment on the reported deal at this time. However, industry experts speculate that the agreement could potentially bring thousands of hours of streaming content to JioCinema. The platform has gained immense popularity due to its free streaming of the IPL cricket tournament this season.
Viacom18 recently acquired the digital streaming rights for IPL from 2023 to 2027 for approximately $2.9 billion, which were previously held by Disney. Prior to March 31 of this year, several of HBO's top-rated shows, including Succession, were available on the Disney Hotstar platform as part of a previous agreement between the two companies that ended on that date.
In a recent development, Viacom18 received a significant investment of $528 million from Bodhi Tree, a joint venture between James Murdoch and former Star India executive, Uday Shankar. Sources reveal that Warner had previously entered into various arrangements with leading Indian streaming giants, but the new deal with Viacom18 will consolidate the library, including HBO, Max, and other Warner content.
JioCinema, which is seeking to compete with major rivals like Netflix and Amazon, is a relatively small player in the market, where cheap data prices have made such platforms increasingly popular. According to Media Partners Asia, Netflix dominates the subscription video-on-demand market with a 39% share by revenue in 2021, compared to its nearest competitor, Hotstar, which has a 23% share.
(With inputs from Reuters)
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.