Ambani’s JioCinema secures NBCUniversal titles, escalates Netflix and Disney rivalry

JioCinema, the affordable on-demand video streaming service rival to Netflix and Disney’s Hotstar in India, will soon be the home for “The Office” and other NBCUniversal titles.

The Viacom18 streaming service said on Monday said it has signed a “multi-year” partnership with NBCUniversal to bring “thousands of hours” of NBCU movies and TV shows to India. The partnership follows Viacom18 bagging the streaming rights for HBO and other Warner Bros. titles for the South Asian market.

The partnership is not exclusive, so Netflix is likely to continue to offer NBCU titles on its platform in India as well. Nonetheless, JioCinema scoring these international catalogs should be cause of concern for global giants.

JioCinema, which has over the years poached many high-profile talent from Hotstar, offers the most affordable streaming service among the mainstream streamers. Compared to a standard Netflix plan, which costs $6 a month, JioCinema Premium costs $12 for a year.

The streaming service, which is also home to the highly popular IPL cricket tournament and offers a free and ad-supported tier, will beam the NBC titles in India starting next month, in a dedicated Peacock hub on the streaming service, it said. NBC titles will be exclusively available to paying subscribers, said Viacom18.

Viacom18, a joint venture between Reliance and Paramount Global, also counts former Star executives Uday Shankar and James Murdoch’s Bodhi Tree among its backers. Bodhi Tree reduced its planned investment in Viacom18 to $528 million last month, a 70% decrease from the initial commitment of $1.78 billion. Bodhi Tree plans to increase its stake in Viacom18, TechCrunch earlier reported.

More to follow.

Ambani’s JioCinema secures NBCUniversal titles, escalates Netflix and Disney rivalry by Manish Singh originally published on TechCrunch

from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/eUGun6z