 "Ambani, Mukesh, Reliance")
Reliance Industries has struck a deal with Warner Bros Discovery Inc for its streaming platform JioCinema, news agency Reuters reported on Thursday. The move, seen as a major push by the conglomerate to bring Hollywood content to its content, will allow it to telecast the shows of Warner Bros and HBO.
The report said this would include popular shows like Game of Thrones, Succession, and the upcoming Harry Potter series. The financials of the deal were, however, not disclosed.
"It's a deep exclusive arrangement which will make JioCinema the house of Warner, HBO in India," a person aware of the matter was quoted as saying in the report.
Earlier HBO shows were streamed on Disney+ Hotstar, owned by Disney Star, an Indian unit of the Walt Disney Co. The shows were pulled down from the platform on March 31 after Disney Star decided not to renew the deal in a bid to cut costs.
Disney chief executive officer (CEO) Bob Iger said the company would cut $5.5 billion in costs, including $3 billion in non-sports-related content.
Hotstar had been streaming HBO's shows since January 2016. Disney Star (previously Star India) struck a deal with HBO in December 2015 to stream these shows. HBO shows were made available for Indian customers on the same day as the US telecast.
Later, in April 2020, the service was rebranded as Disney+ Hotstar.
The content deal could bring thousands of hours of streaming content to JioCinema, which has become popular for streaming the Indian Premier League (IPL) on the platform for free in the ongoing season.
