JioHotstar targets Indian market with low-cost HBO Max add-on

Indian streaming service JioHotstar, owned by Reliance Industries, announced on Wednesday that it is expanding its partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery to bring HBO Max to India. Under the partnership, Warner Bros. Discovery will act as the partner providing content, while JioHotstar will distribute the service to its subscriber base. The HBO Max service will be available to JioHotstar subscribers as an add-on starting at ₹49 (about $0.50) per month. This pricing for the HBO Max add-on is significantly lower than HBO Max’s stand-alone Basic tier in the U.S.

To highlight the pricing difference between the two markets:

• JioHotstar HBO Max Add-on (India): ₹49 (about $0.50) per month
• HBO Max Stand-alone Basic Tier (U.S.): $10.99 per month

The user experience for subscribers will depend on their base subscription tier. JioHotstar confirmed that users’ existing subscription plans would affect the experience, indicating that lower-priced plans may include advertising. This add-on pricing is positioned alongside JioHotstar’s base subscription plans. These plans start at ₹79 (about $0.85) per month for mobile streaming and go up to ₹299 (about $3.2) per month for its premium streaming plan.

The expansion comes as streaming services compete for a share of India’s audience. According to market data from brokerage firm CLSA, India’s streaming market has reached about 1.45 billion monthly active users (MAUs). Within this landscape, YouTube leads the market with 772 million MAUs, while JioHotstar comes in second with about 390 million MAUs.

Despite these overall figures, streaming services face challenges in expanding outside of major cities. Market penetration estimates from consultancy Third Bridge indicate that penetration of streaming services remains relatively low outside of major cities. Specifically, streaming service usage is estimated at 23% to 27% in Tier 2 markets (secondary urban centers) and falls to 7% to 8% in Tier 3 towns (smaller urban centers). Third Bridge, which compiles insights from industry executives, noted that most users in these areas access streaming services through bundled offerings rather than direct subscriptions.

Why it matters

The deal expands the availability of HBO Max content in India through a local streaming service, offering pricing significantly lower than the U.S. market.