JioHotstar enters MENA with STARZPLAY partnership, takes Indian streaming push to fourth international market

JioHotstar is expanding into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), partnering with regional streaming platform STARZPLAY to bring its Indian entertainment catalogue to one of the world’s largest South Asian diaspora markets. It is the streaming platform’s latest international expansion after launches in the UK, Canada and Singapore.

Under the partnership, JioHotstar will be available as a dedicated streaming destination within the STARZPLAY app and website. The offering will include JioHotstar Originals alongside their India releases, television content from JioStar channels, blockbuster films and reality franchises such as Koffee with Karan and Bigg Boss. The content will be available with audio tracks in up to 10 languages, including Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Bangla, according to the company.

JioHotstar is looking to build an international audience for Indian entertainment beyond its home market. The platform said MENA is particularly important given its large South Asian diaspora and demand for multilingual content, with the catalogue carrying a substantial Malayalam offering aimed at the region’s Malayali audience.

Amit Malhotra, head, International Business, JioStar, said the response to JioHotstar’s launches in the UK, Canada and Singapore had strengthened the company’s belief in the global opportunity for Indian entertainment.

“As we build JioHotstar into a truly global streaming platform, MENA is a crucial next market, with one of the world’s largest South Asian diaspora communities and a deep appetite for entertainment across languages,” Malhotra said. 

Entertainment meets cricket audience

The partnership also gives JioHotstar access to STARZPLAY’s existing South Asian audience, particularly through cricket. The platform has 2.3 million subscribers and more than 18 million app downloads, and offers live sports including cricket, alongside football, UFC, rugby, boxing, golf and basketball.

JioHotstar will be offered through STARZPLAY’s PLUS plan at AED 34.99 a month. Its MAX plan, priced at AED 49.99 a month, will combine the full JioHotstar entertainment offering with STARZPLAY’s sports portfolio, including major sporting events. The company described STARZPLAY as the home of cricket in MENA, positioning the higher-priced plan as a combined entertainment and sports subscription for households. 

For STARZPLAY, the tie-up is also an attempt to deepen engagement with an audience it already reaches through sport. “Cricket has given STARZPLAY a strong and lasting relationship with South Asian audiences across the region. JioHotstar allows us to extend that relationship beyond the match and into the entertainment households return to every day,” said Maaz Sheikh, CEO, STARZPLAY.

JioHotstar, meanwhile, has 500 million monthly active users and more than 300,000 hours of programming across 19 languages, covering movies, originals, live sports, live events, anime, kids’ entertainment and television shows from more than 100 channels in the JioStar network. 

With MENA now added to its international footprint, the platform is expanding across Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East, using partnerships and market-specific models to take Indian content to global audiences.