India's Reliance JioCinema signs up Pokemon in kids entertainment push-sources

Network18 Media & Investments

16/11/2023 04:06

* 
      Billionaire Mukesh Ambani bets on streaming children's
shows
    

        * 
      Ambani's JioCinema rivalry with Disney, Netflix heating up
    

        * 
      JioCinema to see 3,000 hours of kids content added-source
    

        * 
      App to add Pokemon, Cartoon Network, DreamWorks
content-sources 
    

  
    By Aditya Kalra
       NEW DELHI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The entertainment unit of
India's Reliance  RELI.NS  has signed a deal with The Pokemon
Company to show children's shows and movies on its platform, two
people with knowledge of the deal said, its latest bid to boost
content amid a domestic rivalry with the Walt Disney Co  DIS.N 
and other streaming services.
    The deal, signed this month, will make JioCinema's streaming
app the "exclusive" India platform partner for more than 1,000
episodes and around 20 movies of the Japanese anime series, one
of the sources said, without disclosing any financial details.
    The shows and movies will be dubbed into three Indian
languages to broaden their appeal, the source added. Pokemon has
spawned a global multi-billion dollar media franchise spanning
trading cards, games, TV shows and movies.
    Viacom18, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's entertainment
joint-venture that runs JioCinema, and The Pokemon Company,
owned by video game company Nintendo  7974.T  and affiliates, 
did not respond to a request for comment. 
    Adding child-focused content is Ambani's latest push to
expand in the Indian streaming market which research firm Media
Partners Asia estimates will be worth $7 billion by 2027.
    Netflix  NFLX.O  and Amazon  AMZN.O  are among JioCinema's
competitors, but Ambani has most recently taken on Disney's
Hotstar app, with both offering free streaming of cricket
matches.
        In total, JioCinema will add around 3,000 hours of
children's content, including movies and shows from
Entertainment One, Animaccord, Cartoon Network Studios and
DreamWorks, the sources said.
    Those additions will come through Viacom18's existing
content deals, or integration with its other streaming app, Voot
Kids, which has shut, they added. Some Pokemon content was
earlier on Voot, but the new JioCinema deal is a "much larger
partnership", one of the sources said.
    NBCUniversal told Reuters that "kids and family
programming", including DreamWorks content, was part of a
multi-year partnership with JioCinema announced in May.
Entertainment One, Animaccord, Cartoon Network Studios did not
respond to requests for comment.
    In April, Viacom18 struck a deal with Warner Bros Discovery
Inc.  WBD.O  to include more Hollywood and international content
on JioCinema, including hit series "Succession" and "Game of
Thrones".

 (Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Additional reporting
by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; editing by Miral Fahmy)
 ((munsif.vengattil@thomsonreuters.com;))