HBO, Warner Bros content deals - Analysing the road ahead for JioCinema beyond IPL

Reliance’s Jio doesn’t do things in half measures. Jio disrupted the telecom market with its launch in September 2016, offering free mobile data. It has played the game well in a price-sensitive and value-for-money demanding nation like India to lead the telecom market today.

Reliance is now looking to repeat the same success for its video streaming offering – JioCinema. Reliance, its broadcast division Viacom18, Paramount Global, and Rupert Murdoch-Uday Shankar-led Bodhi Tree Systems have finalised a strategic partnership.

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Winning the digital media rights for IPL for a five-year period (2023-27) has given a huge boost to JioCinema. By offering IPL viewing for free, the platform has played to the galleries and amassed a huge viewership base, especially in Tier 2, 3 and 4 mass markets, though complete viewership numbers are not available.

However, with IPL 2023 ending later in May, JioCinema’s next move will be crucial in retaining the huge mass viewership base, growing the platform’s consumers, as well as financial success.

JioCinema has already struck new multi-year content deals with HBO and Warner Bros Discovery. This move is set to bring popular and premium international content such as the Harry Potter series, Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings onto the platform, making it a competitor against the likes of Netflix and Amazon in the fiercely competitive Indian OTT market. The partnership will also see HBO Original, Max Original and Warner Bros. Television series premiere on JioCinema on the same day as the US. With this deep exclusive arrangement, JioCinema is set to become the house of Warner, HBO in India, and could potentially dominate the Indian OTT industry. This content partnership is expected to bring thousands of hours of streaming content onto JioCinema, which has already gained popularity for showing the IPL cricket tournament on its platform for free during the ongoing season.

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This deal has garnered attention from industry analysts, who are speculating on how it could affect the Indian OTT market. The first and foremost decision for JioCinema would be its pricing strategy – will it go for the disruptive low pricing it had introduced for Jio or make it ad-supported, or pay-per-view? So far, there is no word on the going pay decision of the platform.

With the addition of highly popular Hollywood content, JioCinema can become a major player in the Indian OTT industry, which is currently dominated by streaming giants like Netflix, Disney, and Amazon Prime Video. Some analysts believe that this move could disrupt the market and change the game for OTT platforms in India. Others are skeptical, pointing out that the Indian audience still prefers local content and may not be willing to pay for international shows and movies.

Let’s take a look at what some of the experts have to say about this development.

It is quite disruptive in nature, points out Karan Taurani, Senior Analyst at Elara Capital. "What we have seen over the last one year is that there is some bit of disruption in the OTT market. It all started off with the Jio acquiring the digital rights of IPL at a hefty premium. JioCinema is not just about IPL; rather it is all about wanting to become that number one platform. The market now is dominated by players like YouTube, Netflix and Hotstar. It will disrupt the market in terms of ARPUs.”

He is sure that in one year JioCinema will become number one in terms of the overall OTT market share.

Significant development

The new content deal could potentially be a significant development for the Indian OTT space. It could give JioCinema a competitive edge by providing its users with a wide range of high-quality content from Warner Bros Discovery's extensive library, including popular TV shows and movies.

However, whether or not this deal will be a game changer for the Indian OTT space as a whole will depend on several factors, such as the pricing strategy, user experience, and marketing efforts of JioCinema. Additionally, other major players in the Indian OTT market, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar, will continue to offer their own exclusive content and compete for the attention of Indian audiences.

Overall, while the new content deal between Viacom18 and Warner Bros Discovery is certainly a positive development for JioCinema, it remains to be seen how much impact it will have on the broader Indian OTT landscape.

Rammohan Sundaram, President - Integrated Media, DDB Mudra, does not see it as a complete game changer, but it definitely gives JioCinema the potential to compete with the vast content available on Hotstar by Star. However, he feels, for the distribution of Viacom's content on both Voot and JioCinema to yield the necessary outcome, it may be necessary for Voot and JioCinema to be integrated.

"Look, the alliance is straightforward. HBO gets distribution in India on a platter whose viewership was anyway not high on TV in India and launching their own App would require massive investments on technology, distribution, marketing and consumer acquisition. This alliance is a win from an HBO perspective and gives extra content to attract premium audiences on Jio Cinema," he points out.

According to Sundaram, Jio Cinema is primarily known for showing IPL cricket tournaments for the next five years, which makes it a mass product.

Additionally, Sundaram says, Jio Studios will produce content for the Jio Platforms. However, he adds, producing premium content as a mix after such a large acquisition on IPL would have been expensive. "Therefore, the partnership with HBO through this acquisition seems to be a better move for Jio Cinema. Despite Jio's telephony capability and penetration, Indian consumers of OTT have a clear preference for mass content over premium content, except during IPL on connected TV. While Jio Cinema does not have a reach problem, it may not necessarily translate into premium content consumption. Nonetheless, it is a positive move to have it in their programming mix," he says.

"So my conclusion is it currently does not seem to be a game changer of sorts and looks more of a protection of usage and engagement strategy for Jio Cinema post IPL," Sundaram concludes.

Outpacing the competition

The Indian OTT space has been witnessing a cut-throat competition amongst various players, with everyone striving to grab a significant market share. The Jio Cinema-Warner Bros Discovery partnership has the potential to put Jio Cinema ahead of its competitors, providing it with exclusive access to the highly-coveted international content of HBO and Max Original. This content deal could allow Jio Cinema to expand its subscription base and viewership significantly.

The Indian OTT space has been heating up in recent years, with a host of players vying for a share of the lucrative market. According to Chirag Gander, Co-Founder of The Minimalist, this strategic alliance could position Jio Cinema to outpace its competitors and expand its subscription base and viewership.

"The recently announced multi-million dollar, multi-annum deal between Jio Cinema and Warner Bros Discovery is a landmark content agreement that promises to reshape the OTT landscape in India. With the IPL providing a strong and exclusive backbone for Jio's expansion into small towns and non-urban areas, this collaboration will offer Jio Cinema exclusive access to the highly coveted international content of HBO and Max Original, which are both pillars of urban Indian viewership," says Gander.

Moreover, he adds, with Jio Studios making waves in content creation, Jio Cinema is poised to become one of the most sought-after OTT platforms for users and brands alike. "The platform's smart monetization strategies are expected to be further bolstered by this partnership, making it an ideal distribution channel for brand campaigns. Looking ahead, it will be fascinating to see how Jio Cinema leverages future collaborations to expand its reach and viewership globally, after making such bold strides in capturing the local domain."

Independent brand strategist Ambi Parameswaran is happy that quality content produced by HBO will now be available on the Jio Cinema platform. He points out that HBO has been a game-changer in the TV industry with its revolutionary decision to go "pay" and offer popular shows like The Sopranos and Sex & The City. He is certain that HBO content will receive an overwhelming response in India.

"They continued to change the discourse with the highly acclaimed Game of Thrones series. Many were surprised when Disney+Hotstar dropped HBO, but the news that Jio has picked up their content is a reason to celebrate. With the growing popularity of dubbed content in India, there is huge potential for HBO's content to find a massive audience in the country."

“It is a powerful move, as it gives access to popular international content,” maintains Kalyan Kumar, CEO and Co-founder, KlugKlug. First and foremost, he says it gives Increased user engagement. New content is likely to attract more users to JioCinema. This, in turn, could lead to increased user engagement and retention.

According to him, the agreement between Viacom18's JioCinema and Warner Bros. Discovery is likely to be a game-changer for the Indian OTT market.

"Firstly, it could give JioCinema an enhanced competitive positioning alongside Netflix and Amazon. Secondly, there are various monetization opportunities, such as ad-supported streaming or pay-per-view, which could further strengthen its revenue streams. Overall, this deal could help JioCinema gain a competitive edge, attract more users, and increase its revenue, while also offering Indian viewers access to some of the most popular global content," he adds.

Overall, Kalyan Kumar says, the agreement between Viacom18's JioCinema and Warner Bros. Discovery could help JioCinema gain a competitive edge, attract more users, and enhance its revenue streams, while also offering Indian viewers access to some of the most popular global content.

No doubt that the partnership between Jio Cinema and Warner Bros Discovery is a significant development in the Indian OTT space. With exclusive access to popular international content from HBO and Max Original, Jio Cinema is set to emerge as a strong competitor in the industry. This strategic alliance could also pave the way for more collaborations that will further expand Jio Cinema's reach and viewership. Overall, the OTT landscape in India is poised for exciting times ahead, as more players enter the market and vie for a share of the lucrative streaming pie.