All HBO and Warner Bros. content material will quickly be obtainable to stream on JioCinema. Reliance’s Viacom18 and Warner Bros. Discovery introduced a multi-year settlement Thursday, which particulars that ‘beginning subsequent month’ – Might 2023 – JioCinema could be the brand new house for WB’s catalogue of TV sequence and flicks in India. Nevertheless, the library is not solely restricted to HBO originals — as seen with Disney+ Hotstar — and contains Max Unique (previously HBO Max) and different Warner Bros. productions as properly. Beforehand, HBO Max productions didn’t have a house in India, which led to Peacemaker being shopped to Amazon Prime Video seven months after its US premiere.
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s manufacturers are extremely in style throughout India, and we’re happy to accomplice with Viacom18 to convey our premium HBO, Max Unique, and Warner Bros. content material to native followers,” Clement Schwebig, President, Warner Bros. Discovery (India, Southeast Asia, and Korea) stated in a press launch. “This new settlement demonstrates our dedication to South Asia as we search to entertain audiences throughout extra platforms, and additional strengthens the size of our regional enterprise as an entire.”
“JioCinema has turn into the largest platform for reside sports activities. We at the moment are on a mission to construct essentially the most magnetic vacation spot for leisure for all Indians,” Ferzad Palia, Head – SVOD & Worldwide Enterprise, Viacom18, stated. “The strategic partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery is a giant milestone in our journey to supply the perfect of Hollywood content material to our elite customers. We imagine that Warner Bros. Discovery units the worldwide requirements for premium content material and this partnership permits us to create the perfect and essentially the most complete vacation spot for our customers.”
The deal contains present and future seasons of critically-acclaimed HBO sequence corresponding to Home of the Dragon, The Final of Us, Euphoria, The White Lotus, and Succession’s fourth and ultimate season, which didn’t air in India concurrently within the US, as a result of take care of Disney+ Hotstar concluding on the finish of March.
On March 31, Disney+ Hotstar eliminated all HBO content material — spanning Sport of Thrones, The Final of Us, and extra — with studies suggesting that the shake-up has to do with inside restructuring and cost-cutting measures, laid out by returning Disney CEO Bob Iger. On the time, Amazon Prime Video was thought of as a high candidate to amass streaming rights for HBO content material by trade analysts.
It was predicted that the streamer would both add HBO’s catalogue to its library or supply the content material as a separate subscription-based channel, akin to AMC+. This stunning new take care of Viacom18 comes quickly after Jio Studios introduced its personal content material slate of tasks being produced in India. The press launch additional notes that new content material corresponding to Sam Levinson’s The Idol and Park Chan-wook’s The Sympathizer will likely be obtainable to stream on the identical day because the US premiere.
What’s totally different this time is the inclusion of Max Unique and Warner Bros. productions, which beforehand didn’t have an Indian vacation spot except the final viewers confirmed demand for it. That is why James Gunn’s Peacemaker took some time to reach in India; it wasn’t included within the Hotstar deal. At this level, it’s unclear if ongoing reveals corresponding to The Flight Attendant, And Simply Like That…, and Peacemaker could be faraway from Amazon Prime Video.
As per the brand new deal, these will quickly be up for streaming on JioCinema, alongside upcoming reveals such because the Colin Farrell-led The Batman spin-off sequence The Penguin and Dune: The Sisterhood, the prequel sequence primarily based on the 2012 sci-fi novel Sisterhood of Dune, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Be looking out for the Harry Potter TV sequence as properly.
Any Warner Bros. blockbuster films together with the Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and the DC Universe franchise will likely be packaged into JioCinema, alongside animated titles like Dexter’s Laboratory and Tom and Jerry Children. That is including to the IPL (Indian Premier League) content material obtainable on the platform, which Viacom18 bagged from Disney+ Hotstar for digital streaming till 2027. The latter nonetheless holds TV broadcasting rights for the annual cricket extravaganza.
JioCinema was additionally the vacation spot to observe the FIFA World Cup, final yr, including an in-app function to rewind again to re-watch key highlights from a match.
At present, there are not any pricing particulars or a concrete date for accessing Warner Bros./ HBO content material on JioCinema, which as of now’s provided at no cost, however is predicted to begin charging a subscription payment after IPL 2023.
