India’s JioHotstar takes partnership route for Middle East expansion
India’s JioHotstar takes partnership route for Middle East expansion
印度 JioHotstar 采取合作模式进军中东市场
JioHotstar, the streaming platform with more than 500 million monthly active users backed by Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, is expanding into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) through Starzplay, one of the region’s largest streaming services. The new overseas push comes after its debut in the U.K., Canada, and Singapore. 由印度企业集团信实工业（Reliance Industries）支持、拥有超过 5 亿月活跃用户的流媒体平台 JioHotstar，正通过中东地区最大的流媒体服务商之一 Starzplay，向中东和北非（MENA）地区扩张。在此次海外扩张之前，该平台已先后在英国、加拿大和新加坡上线。
Under the partnership announced Tuesday, JioHotstar will have a dedicated section in Starzplay’s app and on its website, offering Indian films, TV shows, originals, and reality franchises across multiple languages. This is different from JioHotstar’s September launch in the U.K., Canada, and Singapore, where it replaced Hotstar and debuted as a stand-alone streaming service. 根据周二宣布的合作协议，JioHotstar 将在 Starzplay 的应用程序和网站上拥有专属板块，提供多种语言的印度电影、电视节目、原创内容及真人秀系列。这与 JioHotstar 9 月份在英国、加拿大和新加坡的发布方式有所不同——在那些地区，它取代了 Hotstar 并作为独立的流媒体服务上线。
The expansion is part of Reliance’s push to build JioHotstar into a global streaming platform after establishing a massive audience in India. MENA has one of the world’s largest South Asian diaspora communities, giving JioHotstar a sizable potential audience for its Indian films, television shows, and original programming. 此次扩张是信实工业在印度建立庞大用户群后，将 JioHotstar 打造成全球流媒体平台计划的一部分。中东和北非地区拥有全球最大的南亚侨民社区之一，这为 JioHotstar 的印度电影、电视节目和原创内容提供了可观的潜在受众。
As with its earlier debut in the U.K., Canada, and Singapore, JioHotstar’s own sports offering in India will not be available in MENA. However, a plan bundling JioHotstar with Starzplay’s sports offering, including cricket, is priced at AED 49.99 (about $13.60) a month. JioHotstar is also available through Starzplay’s Plus monthly plan at AED 34.99 (around $9.50). 与此前在英国、加拿大和新加坡上线时一样，JioHotstar 在印度的自有体育赛事内容将不会在中东和北非地区提供。不过，包含 JioHotstar 和 Starzplay 体育内容（包括板球）的捆绑套餐定价为每月 49.99 阿联酋迪拉姆（约合 13.60 美元）。用户也可以通过 Starzplay 每月 34.99 阿联酋迪拉姆（约合 9.50 美元）的 Plus 套餐使用 JioHotstar。
With MENA’s large Indian diaspora in focus, new JioHotstar originals will premiere in the region simultaneously with their release in India, with audio available in up to 10 languages. The catalog spans Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Bangla, among other languages, and includes shows such as “Bigg Boss” and “Koffee with Karan.” Additionally, JioHotstar is putting particular emphasis on Malayalam programming, given the large Malayali population in the region. 鉴于中东和北非地区庞大的印度侨民群体，JioHotstar 的新原创内容将与印度同步首映，并提供多达 10 种语言的音频。其内容库涵盖印地语、马拉雅拉姆语、泰米尔语、泰卢固语和孟加拉语等，包括《Bigg Boss》和《Koffee with Karan》等节目。此外，考虑到该地区有大量的马拉雅拉姆语人口，JioHotstar 也特别加强了马拉雅拉姆语节目的投入。
JioHotstar was created after Reliance and Disney merged their Indian media businesses into an $8.5 billion joint venture in 2024. The service, which combined JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, launched in India in February last year. Before JioHotstar’s launch, Hotstar was available in MENA. Disney Star expanded its distribution deal with evision, e&’s media and entertainment arm, in 2024, making it the regional home of Hotstar Specials. Evision is also a major shareholder in Starzplay, where JioHotstar will now have its first dedicated streaming presence in the region. JioHotstar 是在信实工业与迪士尼于 2024 年将其印度媒体业务合并为一家价值 85 亿美元的合资企业后创建的。该服务整合了 JioCinema 和 Disney+ Hotstar，于去年 2 月在印度推出。在 JioHotstar 推出之前，Hotstar 已在中东和北非地区运营。迪士尼星空传媒（Disney Star）于 2024 年扩大了与 e& 旗下媒体娱乐部门 evision 的分销协议，使其成为 Hotstar Specials 在该地区的基地。Evision 同时也是 Starzplay 的主要股东，JioHotstar 现在将通过该平台在该地区首次拥有专属的流媒体阵地。
Starzplay counts more than 2.3 million subscribers and has built a sizable South Asian audience in part through its cricket offering. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. Starzplay CEO Maaz Sheikh described bringing JioHotstar to the platform as a “strategic investment.” Starzplay 拥有超过 230 万订阅用户，其庞大的南亚受众群体部分归功于其提供的板球赛事内容。此次合作的财务条款未予披露。Starzplay 首席执行官 Maaz Sheikh 将引入 JioHotstar 描述为一项“战略投资”。