Indian streaming platform targets the region’s large South Asian audience with multilingual entertainment and new originals
JioHotstar has expanded into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), partnering with regional streaming service STARZPLAY to bring its Indian entertainment catalogue to audiences across the region.
Under the partnership, JioHotstar will be offered as a dedicated destination within the STARZPLAY app and website. The move marks another step in JioHotstar’s international expansion after its recent launches in the UK, Canada and Singapore, where it is targeting the global Indian and South Asian diaspora.
Viewers in MENA will have access to JioHotstar Originals at the same time as their release in India, along with television programmes from JioStar channels, films and major reality franchises. The catalogue will cover Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Bangla and other Indian languages, with selected content offering audio tracks in up to 10 languages.
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The service will include a substantial Malayalam catalogue, reflecting the sizeable Malayali population across Gulf countries and the wider MENA region
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Popular programmes such as Bigg Boss and the upcoming season of Koffee with Karan are also part of the offering
JioHotstar content will be available through STARZPLAY’s PLUS plan at AED 34.99 a month. A MAX plan priced at AED 49.99 will combine the JioHotstar entertainment catalogue with STARZPLAY’s sports offering, including cricket and other major sporting events.
The partnership also builds on STARZPLAY’s existing relationship with South Asian audiences, particularly through cricket. Its chief executive, Maaz Sheikh, said the addition of JioHotstar would allow the platform to broaden that relationship beyond sports and into everyday entertainment.
JioHotstar, operated by JioStar, has more than 500 million monthly active users and a catalogue spanning more than 300,000 hours of programming across 19 languages. The MENA launch further strengthens its ambition to establish Indian entertainment as a global streaming proposition.
