JioHotstar, the streaming platform controlled by Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, is expanding beyond India for the first time and will replace Hotstar in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Singapore as part of a broader international push.
The service launches with more than 160,000 hours of entertainment content, but it will not include the live sports that fueled its enormous audience in India. That means no Indian Premier League (IPL), Women’s Premier League (WPL), or Indian national cricket matches at launch. JioStar said the omission stems from existing content agreements, though the company did not rule out adding sports later.
What changes for current Hotstar users
JioStar confirmed that starting September 2, Hotstar will “cease to exist” in the U.K., Canada, and Singapore, with JioHotstar stepping in as its replacement. Subscribers in those three markets will no longer reach the service through the Hotstar app, but their existing login credentials will carry over to JioHotstar.
The JioHotstar app will be available across all three markets through the App Store and the Google Play Store on mobile devices, as well as on connected TVs. Hotstar has operated internationally for years, including in the U.K. and Canada, and previously ran a stand-alone service in the United States before closing it in 2021. Notably, the U.S. is not part of this initial rollout, though the company plans to enter additional overseas markets over time.
The content lineup and the language strategy
At launch, JioHotstar offers a large library of Indian films, TV originals, and reality shows such as “Bigg Boss,” alongside live TV channels under the Star banner, including Star Plus, Colors, Star Vijay, Asianet, Star Jalsha, and Star Pravah. The company said its content spans 12 languages, among them English, Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, and Marathi, with dubs and translations also available.
The absence of sports marks a clear departure from JioHotstar’s offering in India, where the company reports more than 500 million monthly active users and where live sports is a major draw. In its home market, the service streams major Indian cricket events along with the English Premier League, tennis tournaments including Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and domestic leagues for sports such as kabaddi and hockey.
The business behind the expansion
In 2024, Reliance merged its media assets with Disney to form an EUR 7 billion joint venture. As part of that deal, the streaming services Hotstar and JioCinema combined to create JioHotstar for Indian consumers. At the time, the two platforms together accounted for 85% of India’s streaming audience.
Data from India’s Ministry of External Affairs suggests that across the three launch countries, JioHotstar could reach a target audience of more than 4 million people, with additional appeal to the broader South Asian diaspora. According to Amit Malhotra, JioStar’s Head of International Business, the company sees an opportunity to serve a wider, underserved global audience rather than simply export an Indian streaming service to new markets, noting that South Asian audiences maintain a deep connection with Indian entertainment across languages, generations, and households.
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