Mukesh Ambani’s streaming platform JioCinema on April 25 announced a significant two-third reduction in prices for its premium services.
JioCinema premium will now be available for as low as ₹29 per month, in a bid to amplify the competition with streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, Reuters reported.
New Pricing Structure
According to a statement from JioCinema, an advertisement-free subscription will begin at an introductory rate of ₹29/month for streaming on a single device. Additionally, a ‘Family’ plan allowing streaming on four simultaneous devices will be offered at ₹89/per month.
Previously, the platform offered its premium service at ₹99/month or ₹999/annually for streaming on up to four devices simultaneously, albeit with advertisements.
Existing premium members of JioCinema will receive all the supplementary benefits of the ‘Family’ plan at no extra charge, the statement confirmed.
Strategy and Pricing
The plan includes online and offline viewing, in 4K quality, for foreign movies, TV series and kids programming on any device in five languages, according to Kiran Mani, CEO of Viacom18’s digital division.
“We want to make it as affordable and as widely available for Indians as possible to make JioCinema a daily viewing habit for the family members,” Mani told Bloomberg in an interview.
“We have the largest library of kids’ content in here. We have probably one of the best libraries of Hollywood content. We find increasingly that people watch House of the Dragon, Oppenheimer and the like in their local language,” Mani added.
While JioCinema gained popularity for streaming the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament for free, the revised pricing specifically targets premium content. Notably, the statement confirmed that free streaming of matches and other local programming and shows will continue with ads.
“IPL is going to be the catalyst for JioCinema. People accessed sports via 120 million screens in India three years ago. This year, India will cross 500 million screens,” Mani told Bloomberg.
Mukesh Ambani’s Disruptive Strategy
Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani is renowned for disrupting competitors in India’s price-sensitive market with budget-friendly offers. The reduced prices aim to bolster JioCinema’s competitiveness against Netflix and Amazon, Reuters said.
This comes following agreements with Disney to merge India TV and streaming assets, and content partnerships with major players such as Warner Bros Discovery and NBCUniversal.
JioCinema boasts a diverse content library, including popular titles such as Succession, the Harry Potter series, and the Japanese anime series Pokemon. RIL, through its media subsidiary Viacom18, manages multiple TV channels and the JioCinema streaming app. It has a substantial presence in India’s $28 billion media and entertainment market.
(With inputs from Bloomberg and Reuters)
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Published: 25 Apr 2024, 08:07 AM IST