Reliance JV strikes content streaming deal with Warner for JioCinema-sources

Bodhi Tree Multimedia

27/04/2023 08:23

(Adds context, source comment)
    By Aditya Kalra
       NEW DELHI, April 27 (Reuters) - The broadcast venture of
India's Reliance  RELI.NS  has struck a  deal with Warner Bros
Discovery Inc.  WBD.O  for its streaming platform JioCinema, a
big push into bringing popular Hollywood content on the
platform, two sources with direct knowledge said. 
    The deal between Reliance's Viacom18 would see Warner Bros
as well as its HBO content becoming available on Reliance's
JioCinema app, including popular shows such as Succession, Game
of Thrones and the upcoming Harry Potter series, the sources
said.
    The sources did not disclose the financials of the deal. 
    The first source said the partnership will be exclusive and
see most of Warner's marquee content on the JioCinema platform.
Warner cannot offer most of its popular titles to other Indian
rivals including Amazon  AMZN.O  Prime Video and Disney  DIS.N 
Hotstar, said one of the sources.
    "It's a deep exclusive arrangement which will make JioCinema
the house of Warner, HBO in India," said the person.
    Warner did not immediately respond, while Viacom18 had no
immediate comment.
    The content deal could bring in thousands of hours of
streaming content onto JioCinema, which has become popular for
streaming the IPL cricket tournament on the platform for free in
the ongoing season. 
    Viacom18 won the IPL digital streaming rights from 2023 to
2027 for around $2.9 billion, rights which Disney previously
held.
        Several of HBO's top rated shows, including Succession,
aired in India on the Disney Hotstar platform until March 31
this year, as part of a deal between the two companies that
ended on the date.
  
        Viacom18 recently received an investment of $528 million
from Bodhi Tree, a joint venture between James Murdoch and a
former Star India executive, Uday Shankar. 
  
        The first source added that Warner so far had various
arrangements with Indian streaming giants, but the Viacom-Warner
deal will see consolidation of that library and will include
HBO, Max and Warner content, among others.
  
        JioCinema is seeking to compete with rivals including
Netflix and Amazon in a market where such platforms are becoming
increasingly popular, thanks to cheap data prices. 
  
        But JioCinema is a small player. Netflix outperforms
rivals in the subscription video-on-demand market, commanding a
39% share by revenue in 2021 compared to nearest rival Hotstar's
23%, according to Media Partners Asia.
  

 (Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Additional reporting by Munsif
Vengattil and Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
 ((aditya.kalra@thomsonreuters.com; +91-11-49548021;))