What India’s Streaming Landscape Looks Like, In A Post-Jio World

We're introducing #StateOfStreaming, a column where Tatsam Mukherjee breaks down the latest developments in streaming-verse.

A LOT has been happening in the Indian streaming service landscape in the last six months, since Jio Cinema swung for the fences by streaming the 2022 FIFA World Cup in India for free. After Viacom18’s first streaming service Voot failed to make a significant dent, the conglomerate’s second bet emerged out of nowhere, bringing in a reported 100 million users on its platform and clocking an estimated Rs 300 crore in ad revenue during the World Cup, after shelling out around Rs 440 crore for the rights of the event. Not just stopping at that, Jio Cinema also picked up the digital streaming rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) at a reported price of nearly Rs 24,000 crore for a five-year period between 2023-2027. Much to the surprise of many, the streaming of the marquee cricket event is also free. The platform, owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance group, is also in talks with Warner Bros, to licence all Warner Bros content (including prestigious HBO titles) that appeared on Disney+ Hotstar till March 2023.

As if all this wasn’t enough, Jio Cinema (with the help of its studio arm, Jio Studios) has announced a slate of 100+ films ranging from regional content to A-list Hindi films including two Shahid Kapoor-starrers, Raju Hirani’s Dunki (which will obviously release in theatres first), and last year’s high profile but underwhelming-at-the-box office Vikram Vedha, starring Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan. A space that was initially dominated by Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Disney+ Hotstar has now been blown wide open with Jio. Combined with the long-gestating merger between Sony LIV and Zee5, the landscape might be changing beyond recognition.

Disney+ Hotstar, who were miles ahead in the competition with an estimated 60 million subscribers, are no longer untouchable. Analysts have predicted that the streaming service could lose up to 20-25 percent of their user base. Shailesh Kapoor, CEO of Ormax Media, concurs that the departure of the IPL to Jio may have affected Disney+ Hotstar’s subscriber base, but says it might be offset by the platform’s growth: “I think it would be a good result if they can hold on to their numbers. I think that will be a favourable outcome given that they don’t have the IPL,” Kapoor said. With the BCCI auctioning the TV+digital rights for the Indian (men’s) cricket team at home, during 2023-2027, it will be crucial that Disney+ Hotstar retain both TV and Digital rights, believed to be auctioned separately. After bagging the IPL’s digital rights, one suspects that Jio Cinema will lock horns again with Disney+ Hotstar for the rights of the national (men’s) team’s series at home over the next five years.

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Indian Historical Shows Have A Game Of Thrones-Sized Problem

IN A SCENE from ZEE5’s Taj: Divided By Blood, Murad — the bloodthirsty middle son of Emperor Akbar — takes up the challenge of bringing a horse under control, with grotesque results. A lovely hovering shot shows a decapitated white stallion — the brutal execution supplying both visceral violence and the inexpensive thrill of watching the already tarnished legacy of the Mughals being dented a bit further. With the second season of the series (Reign Of Revenge) now streaming, it’s worth examining the Game of Thrones-sized shadow that is visibly dictating the rules of engagement for Indian historical dramas, and — unfortunately — the limits of their imagination.

There is a keen interest in Mughal history at the moment, not so much to adequately represent it or query it for socio-religious relevance, but to merely impress upon it the tropes of modern indignation. While Taj tells the story of a secular Akbar trying to oversee the peaceful handover of his throne, Disney+ Hotstar’s The Empire, released in 2021, attempted to trace the unlikely (and ultimately tragic) ascent of a young Babur.

There are plenty of narrative themes to mine in both stories; not least, the ways in which Babur’s arc contrasts with that of his grandson Akbar, the ruler considered to have planted the seeds of pre-statehood secularism in the Indian subcontinent. Unfortunately, it’s not what either series builds itself around. Instead, it is Mughal barbarism, debauchery and kohl-eyed humourlessness that both are mired in.

— MANIK SHARMA

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