JioHotstar builds on Warner Bros partnership with add-on HBO Max hub on OTT platform
Streaming platform expands Warner Bros. Discovery partnership with new HBO Max hub, bringing HBO, Max Originals and DC titles under one add-on pack starting at ₹49 per month.
NEW DELHI: JioHotstar is doubling down on premium global content in India with the launch of an HBO Max hub, deepening its partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery and bringing some of Hollywood’s biggest franchises under one roof on the streaming platform.
The hub will host titles from HBO, Max Originals, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Television and DC Studios, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
The move builds on a 2023 agreement, when Reliance Industries-controlled Viacom18 signed a three-year deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to stream HBO Originals and Warner Bros. content on JioCinema, as the platform was then known. The HBO Max hub will sit alongside JioHotstar’s existing mix of international and local content, with the add-on pack priced from ₹49 per month.
“This marks a defining moment in how premium global content is accessed and experienced in India. By bringing HBO Max to JioHotstar, we are creating a unified destination for premium international content and raising the bar for quality content once again,” Kevin Vaz, chief executive, entertainment, JioStar, said in a statement.
Vaz added that the platform is combining scale, curation, quality and ease of access.
The HBO Max catalogue includes titles such as Euphoria, House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, The White Lotus, The Pitt, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Succession, Dune: Prophecy, Sex and the City and Game of Thrones, along with series like Friends and The Big Bang Theory.
To be sure, foreign streaming platforms such as HBO Max have taken a cautious approach to India’s crowded OTT market, where low returns in a price-sensitive ecosystem have deterred aggressive investments in local originals or standalone launches. Apart from HBO Max, Apple TV+ remains available only via aggregators, while Crunchyroll operates in India but does not produce local content.
Industry experts attribute this caution to weak advertising and subscription revenues, as well as the limited audience for niche content that may not justify large investments.
“For global OTT players aiming to succeed in India, understanding the complex audience dynamics is crucial," Chandrasekhar Mantha, partner, media and entertainment leader, Deloitte India, had said in an earlier interview.
"Given the market's price sensitivity, recognizing viewer segmentation and offering tailored subscription plans, along with AVoD (ad-supported video-on-demand) models, are key strategies for success. While original content production is costly, leading platforms will have to effectively balance their content slate with a mix of originals and marquee licensed acquisitions. Getting the content strategy right may be challenging for new players,” Mantha had said.
About the Author
Lata writes about the media and entertainment industry for Mint, focusing on everything from traditional film and TV to newer areas like video and audio streaming, including the business and regulatory aspects of both. A journalist for over a decade, she has extensively covered relatively underexplored aspects of what is seen as a glamorous business—from the death of single-screen cinemas in small towns to unreasonable star fees and demands eating into film production budgets and eventually inflating ticket rates. She was early to spot what are now established and ongoing trends such as the slowdown in the OTT business and the surge in the popularity of southern movies, which she continues to spotlight. A regular writer of in-depth, long-form features, her best-read work ranges from critical profiles of companies like Netflix, JioHotstar and Prime Video to takes on sexual harassment and mental health in the entertainment industry. She spends a lot of time watching content, particularly the old-school way in movie theatres, to make sure her writing is embedded in on-ground experience, since she believes the best stories often come from the travesties of directly engaging with and paying for the content that she writes on, and not from celebrity tweets, company releases or listings. A graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism, she has also authored a book on the business of entertainment.
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