By Our Staff
The joint announcement by Warner Bros. Discovery and Viacom18 on Thursday is being looked at it with much interest in M&E circles. This surely more than a new multi-year agreement, making JioCinema India’s new streaming home of HBO, Max Original and Warner Bros. content from next month. It’s the beginning of an aggressive Viacom18 with JioCinema in tow. Clearly, the combination of Jio, Uday Shankar/Jamesh Murdoch and Paramount Global is now beginning to exert itself.
The partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, includes exclusive content rights across digital and linear. The deal includes current and future seasons of HBO’s globally acclaimed series such as House of The Dragon, The Last of Us, Succession and The White Lotus, and returning seasons of True Detective: Night Country, Euphoria, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty and Perry Mason. Also featured as part of the agreement are highly anticipated HBO Original series including The Idol, White House Plumbers, The Sympathizer and The Regime. In addition, HBO’s esteemed series and documentaries, including Game of Thrones, Sex & The City, Big Little Lies, Chernobyl and Veep, will be available for users.
Said Clement Schwebig, President, India, Southeast Asia, and Korea, Warner Bros. Discovery: “Warner Bros. Discovery’s brands are incredibly popular across India, and we are pleased to partner with Viacom18 to bring our premium HBO, Max Original and Warner Bros. content to local fans. This new agreement demonstrates our commitment to South Asia as we seek to entertain audiences across more platforms, and further strengthens the scale of our regional business as a whole.”
Added Ferzad Palia, Head – SVOD & International Business, Viacom18: “JioCinema has become the biggest platform for live sports. We are now on a mission to build the most magnetic destination for entertainment for all Indians. The strategic partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery is a big milestone in our journey to offer the best of Hollywood content to our elite consumers. We believe that Warner Bros. Discovery sets the global standards for premium content and this partnership allows us to create the best and the most comprehensive destination for our users.”