After record viewership from IPL, Reliance JioCinema to launch new content at a cost

IPL has become one of the world's biggest sporting events and an annual celebration in India with tens of crores tuning in for almost two months. As part of its big foray into streaming, Reliance Jio broadcasted the FIFA World Cup in India for free, and went on to do the same for IPL fans.

But as the platform eyes expansion with more movies and series, Reliance's President for media and content business says that it will roll out prices for content before the end of IPL 2023.

Viewers need to start paying up soon

• In an interview to Bloomberg, Jyoti Deshpande mentioned that an addition of more than 100 movies and series to the platform will come at a cost.

• The oil-to-media conglomerate is still finalising the pricing strategy, and the fresh content will be launched before the IPL ends.

• Despite prices being applied to new movies and series on the platform, viewers will be able to watch IPL matches for free on JioCinema.

Cashing in on momentum from IPL

• With Jio gaining from the excitement around IPL, Disney-Star has also been attracting crores of viewers via 20 channels, despite charging for access to the tournament.

• Jio's rival Airtel had also approached the telecom regulatory authority of India, to raise concerns about Disney-Start having to charge Rs 19 as per norms, while JioCinema broadcasts matches for free.

• The telco which has also accused JioFiber of predatory pricing for offering TV channels has called for one-service-one-rate to prevent differential pricing.