JioHotstar likely to touch 300 million users by May-end with IPL boost

The IPL will see its ad revenues rise by 50 per cent to touch $600 million (Rs 5,340 crore) across TV and the over-the-top (OTT) platform

JioHotstar is on track to reach 300 million subscribers by the end of May this year when the Indian Premier League (IPL) ends. The IPL will see its ad revenues rise by 50 per cent to touch $600 million (₹5,340 crore) across TV and the over-the-top (OTT) platform.  

Those are among some of the rather aggressive predictions from a research note from Media Partners Asia (MPA) this week. The ad market has been softening for months. According to Comscore data, internet users have been stuck at 524 million for over two years. Going by MPA’s own numbers, all of India had 125 million OTT subscribers in 2024. What explains these numbers? 

“There is no doubt about the ad market softening, but not for the IPL,” says Vivek Couto, executive director, MPA. He points to a key factor for this rise. In 2024, advertising revenue was split between Disney Star (which had the TV rights) and JioCinema (digital rights). “The level of fragmentation was high and advertisers had to choose,” says Couto.  

The firms, which own those brands, merged last year to form JioStar, majority owned and controlled by Reliance Industries. The ₹26,000-crore (FY24 revenue) JioStar is India’s second largest media company after Google. JioHotstar is its merged app. This consolidation and JioStar’s resolution to grow the category has brought the Indian OTT market to a pivotal point, say analysts.  

MPA estimates that JioHotstar had 250 million subscribers mid-April. A bulk of them is part of telco bundles — just about 89 million are direct subscribers, the key metric for revenue and reach growth. Every IPL brings in a rise and then fall in numbers. If JioHostar touches 300 million in May, it would (momentarily) be on a level with Netflix, which had 302 million subscribers globally in 2024. But how long will the high hold, ask analysts? 

“The key is to make sure that in viewership, concurrency and number of subscriptions, we attain a peak that expands the market to a new normal every year,” said Kiran Mani, chief executive officer (CEO), Digital, JioStar, in an interview with Business Standard earlier this month.  “There are 150 million average active users who pay between 40 and 50 cents (about ₹40-45) a month for watching. That is the number to watch throughout the year and is the magic number,” said Couto.

 

JioStar has nine months of cricket. Add programming from Star, Viacom18 and HBO et al. Plus, there is a new genre in the live streaming of large concerts (Coldplay) and religious events, such as Ram Navami. Its ability to funnel the newcomers to its other programming will be the key. Mani said there was a 35-40 per cent jump in the number of sports viewers moving on to see a piece of entertainment.

 

In 2024, the Indian streaming video business was around half the size of television at ₹35,600 crore and not profitable. Only if it reaches the 200 million homes (almost 900 million people) that TV reaches, can streaming hope to be a large and profitable business, say analysts. This scaling up then is a step in the right direction.