JioHotstar, the Indian streaming platform with over 500 million monthly active users, is entering the Middle East and North Africa through a partnership with Starzplay, one of the region's largest streaming services. Unlike its September launch in the U.K., Canada, and Singapore—where it replaced Hotstar as a standalone service—JioHotstar will now operate as a dedicated section within Starzplay's app and website. The move targets MENA's large South Asian diaspora, offering Indian films, TV shows, originals, and reality franchises across multiple languages.
The catalog spans Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Bangla, with new JioHotstar originals premiering in the region simultaneously with their India release. Audio will be available in up to 10 languages, and the company is placing particular emphasis on Malayalam programming given the sizable Malayali population in the region. As with earlier overseas launches, JioHotstar's own sports offering in India will not be available, but a bundle with Starzplay's sports package—including cricket—is priced at AED 49.99 (about $13.60) per month, while a Plus plan with JioHotstar costs AED 34.99 (around $9.50).
The expansion builds on Reliance's strategy to globalize JioHotstar after merging its Indian media business with Disney in a $8.5 billion joint venture in 2024. Starzplay, which counts more than 2.3 million subscribers and has a strong South Asian audience partly due to its cricket content, will host JioHotstar's first dedicated streaming presence in the region. Financial terms were not disclosed, though Starzplay CEO Maaz Sheikh called the partnership a "strategic investment."