JioHotstar has expanded its international footprint to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), entering the region through a partnership with streaming platform Starzplay. The move comes shortly after JioHotstar launched in the UK, Canada, and Singapore last month as a standalone streaming service.
Under the partnership, JioHotstar will not operate as a standalone app in the MENA region. Instead, it will have a dedicated streaming hub within the Starzplay app and website.
The section will give subscribers access to JioHotstar Originals, Indian movies, television shows, and reality programs in multiple languages. JioHotstar has also confirmed that its MENA catalog will include a substantial selection of Malayalam content, aimed at serving the region’s large Malayali population.
The upcoming season of Koffee with Karan and the latest season of Bigg Boss will also be available. Bigg Boss will be available in six languages, including Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Bangla. The catalog will feature audio tracks in up to 10 languages.
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JioHotstar MENA Subscription Plans
JioHotstar content will be available through Starzplay’s Plus plan, priced at AED 34.99 per month (roughly Rs. 960). Subscribers on the Starzplay Max plan at AED 49.99 per month (roughly Rs. 1,200) will also get access to the JioHotstar catalog alongside Starzplay’s sports offering.
The expansion is part of Reliance’s wider push to establish JioHotstar as an international streaming platform. The service launched in the UK, Canada, and Singapore last month, marking its first expansion outside India.
JioHotstar is claimed to have more than 500 million active users. In India, its subscription plans start at Rs. 79 per month for the mobile tier.
The company’s earlier international rollout offered more than 1,60,000 hours of content in over 12 Asian languages, with dubbed content and subtitles for global audiences. JioHotstar also plans to add more than 30,000 hours of new content annually.
With its latest MENA expansion, JioHotstar is taking a different approach from its standalone international launches, using an established regional streaming platform to bring its Indian entertainment catalog to audiences across the Middle East and North Africa.