Explained: As Viacom18 Clinches HBO Shows, Can JioCinema Rule Indian OTT Space?

HBO's beloved shows like 'Succession', 'House of the Dragon' and 'The Last of Us' are all set to return to India.

The posters of Succession (L) and House of The Dragon (R).

(Photo Courtesy: IMDb)

Is JioCinema set to become the biggest OTT platform in India?

On 27 April, Reliance's Viacom18 and Warner Bros Discovery signed a multi-layer agreement, making JioCinema India the new home for HBO, Max Original, and Warner Bros content from May 2023 onwards. Basically, our beloved HBO shows – Succession, Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, and The Last of Us – are returning to India soon.

So, how will this disrupt India's OTT space? And how will this historic deal affect the platform's viewership? We explain.

What is the Multi-Layer Deal About?

WBD content was previously licensed by Disney's Star TV in India. However, the deal expired towards the end of March, after Disney+ Hotstar announced that it would no longer carry any HBO content as part of their company restructuring and cost-cutting measures.

• According to WBD and Viacom18, the multi-layer partnership, beginning in May, will include exclusive content rights across digital platforms as well as linear television

• As per the agreement, HBO, Max Original, and Warner Bros content will premiere on JioCinema on the same day as their US releases

Talking about the deal, Clement Schwebig, President, India, Southeast Asia, and Korea, WBD, said in a press statement:

"WBD's brands are incredibly popular across India, and we are pleased to partner with Viacom18 to bring our premium HBO, Max Original, and Warner Bros content to local fans. This new agreement demonstrates our commitment to South Asia as we seek to entertain audiences across more platforms and further strengthens the scale of our regional business as a whole."

Similarly, Ferzad Palia, Head, SVOD and International Business, Viacom18, shared, "The strategic partnership with Warner Bros Discovery is a big milestone in our journey to offer the best of Hollywood content to our elite consumers. We believe that Warner Bros Discovery sets the global standards for premium content, and this partnership allows us to create the best and most comprehensive destination for our users."

But Why JioCinema?

Viacom18's majority share is controlled by the TV subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate, Reliance Industries, which is also the owner of the largest telecom company in India. The new deal will strengthen Viacom18's growing market share of streaming channels in India, as per reports.

• In 2022, Viacom18 acquired all the digital rights to Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket for the next five years

• IPL is the most popular and expensive sports content in the OTT space, and its addition helped drive a large viewership base to JioCinema

• Paramount Global, which controls the minority shares of Viacom18, is also expected to launch its global premium video platform Paramount+ in India in partnership with Viacom18, as per reports

Karan Taurani, Senior Vice President of Elara Capital, told The Quint that JioCinema is likely to emerge as the second-largest OTT platform in India after YouTube. He further explained:

• The depth of content is crucial for any OTT platform. HBO already has a very large fan following in India, particularly among the urban audience

• By getting content from HBO, JioCinema could be trying to acquire a massive number of subscribers who earlier subscribed to Disney+ Hotstar

• In terms of scale and revenue, JioCinema can certainly become the largest streaming platform in the AVOD (advertising-based video on demand) space

Jio Studios recently announced a big slate of over 100 original films and web shows, which will also stream on JioCinema and be paid to watch, as per Reliance's Media and Content Business President Jyoti Deshpande.

Taurani further explained, "The OTT has plans to scale up in a very big way, where they could potentially become the market leader as far as video is concerned."

• The Indian OTT market is close to $2 million. This incorporates 60 percent of AVOD and 40 percent of SVOD (subscription video on demand)

• The AVOD space is higher in India, as here customers are price sensitive and don't want to pay higher ARPUs (average revenue per user). Besides, SVOD platforms already offer a lot of free content

• In terms of pure-play OTT, Netflix was the market leader in SVOD with a market share of about 35 percent in the Indian market

• Similarly, Disney+ Hotstar was the market leader in the AVOD space primarily because of IPL. With the IPL going away, the platform will see a significant decline in its revenue and subscriber base in India

Impact on Viewership

JioCinema currently operates as an ad-supported streaming platform in India. It aggregates content from suppliers like Eros Now, Shemaroo Entertainment, Paramount, AltBalaji, and Viacom18.

• JioCinema currently offers the IPL tournament in a free-of-charge, ad-supported fashion, unlike Star, which offers the same sports with a paywall.

• Jio allows viewers to enjoy IPL in high resolution in 12 different languages without any payment.

Speaking about the expected subscription model of Jio, Taurani further explained:

• JioCinema will have to soon emerge with a subscription-based model since AVOD is not purely sustainable and the content cost is phenomenally high.

• In the future, the platform could keep its subscription free for its premium Jio users, whether they're Jio Fibre subscribers or Jio Postpaid subscribers, as a strategy. However, the content could be paid for by the non-Jio users.

Taurani added, "The bigger plan is to first scale up JioCinema and get a large number of users, then eventually make it free of charge. This move is quite disruptive in nature because Jio has deep pockets and is trying to disrupt the entire ecosystem, wherein they're offering viewers end-to-end content, broadband services, and the platform subscription to value-add. With JioCinema coming in, everything becomes in-house, where they can have their own platform and invest their own money in content."

Meanwhile, a US study cited by Forbes claims that content piracy rose by 18% in 2022, a situation not seen since 2020, and the emergence of streaming services that helped provide entertainment during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

• In terms of the most pirated content, TV shows bring in 46 percent of the traffic to these sites, compared to movies, which account for 13 percent

• Big-budget shows and films like House of the Dragons, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Top Gun: Maverick and The Batman are among the most illegally obtained content

• According to a report by Muso, a statistics business that specialises in global piracy, there were 215 billion visits to content piracy websites globally in 2022, which is 18 percent more than in 2021

Our Favourite Films & TV Shows That Are Going to Come Back

HBO Television Series:

• Succession

• The Last of Us

• House of The Dragon

• The White Lotus

• True Detective: Night Country

• Euphoria

• Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

• Perry Mason

HBO Original Series:

• The Idol

• White House Plumbers

• The Sympathizer

• The Regime

• Sex & The City

• Game of Thrones

• Big Little Lies

• Chernobyl

• Veep

Max Original Series:

• And Just Like That…

• Peacemaker

• The Flight Attendant

• Dune: The Sisterhood

• The Batman

• The Penguin

• Duster

Warner Bros Television Series and Films:

• East New York

• Gotham Knights

• Harry Potter Reboot Series

• Lord of the Rings

• DC Universe Movies

• Dexter’s Laboratory

• Tom & Jerry Kids