After IPL, HBO picks Reliance JioCinema over Disney+ Hotstar for streaming content in India

Just as popular HBO series Succession was about to return for its last season, the studio's content vanished from Disney+ Hotstar in India. This has left Indian fans of shows such as Game of Thrones and its spinoff House of Dragons, scrambling for alternatives as they are haunted by spoilers.

After bagging mega events such as IPL and the FIFA World Cup, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance JioCinema has struck a deal to stream HBO shows in India.

Can't afford to lose Indian audicences

• Being the most populous country, with affordable internet and rising 5G coverage, India is already rising as one of the largest markets for OTT platforms.

• As part of Reliance's deal with Warner Brothers, Succession, Game of Thrones and an upcoming spinoff of Harry Potter will be available in India after a brief hiatus.

• The exclusive deal also means that Warner can't share its titles with Amazon Prime Video or any other platform except for JioCinema.

Winning at Disney's expense

• After securing the rights of IPL from 2023 to 2027, this is the second time that Reliance subsidiary Viacom18 has struck a deal for content previously hosted by Disney.

• Losing IPL had already led to an erosion of Disney+ Hotstar's userbase, and it has suffered another blow after HBO's decision to pick JioCinema.