JioHotstar launches in Middle East and North Africa through STARZPLAY partnership

Mumbai: JioHotstar has entered the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market through a partnership with STARZPLAY, expanding its international presence after launches in the UK, Canada and Singapore.

JioHotstar will be available as a dedicated streaming destination on the STARZPLAY app and website, offering Indian originals, television content, films and reality shows to audiences across the region.

The content offering will include new JioHotstar Originals alongside their India releases, with audio tracks in up to 10 languages. It will also feature content from JioStar television channels, films and reality franchises such as Koffee with Karan and Bigg Boss, which is currently running across six languages.

The catalogue will include Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Bangla and other languages, with a substantial Malayalam collection aimed at the region’s Malayali audience.

The JioHotstar offering will be available through STARZPLAY’s PLUS plan at AED 34.99 per month. The MAX plan, priced at AED 49.99 per month, will combine the complete JioHotstar entertainment offering with STARZPLAY’s sports portfolio, including cricket.

Amit Malhotra, Head – International Business, JioStar, said the response to JioHotstar’s international launches had reinforced the company’s belief in the global demand for Indian entertainment.

“As we build JioHotstar into a truly global streaming platform, MENA is a crucial next market, with one of the world’s largest South Asian diaspora communities and a deep appetite for entertainment across languages,” he said.

STARZPLAY CEO Maaz Sheikh said the partnership would combine Indian storytelling with the platform’s understanding of regional audiences.

“Cricket has given STARZPLAY a strong and lasting relationship with South Asian audiences across the region. JioHotstar allows us to extend that relationship beyond the match and into the entertainment households return to every day,” Sheikh said.

To mark the launch, JioHotstar’s Big Bang was projected onto Dubai’s Burj Khalifa in a light-and-colour display featuring JioHotstar and STARZPLAY.

JioHotstar said it would continue exploring features such as AI-powered personalisation, conversational discovery, interactive entertainment and in-app commerce as it expands internationally.