All HBO and Warner Bros. content material will quickly be out there to stream on JioCinema. Reliance’s Viacom18 and Warner Bros. Discovery introduced a multi-year settlement Thursday, which particulars that ‘beginning subsequent month’ – May 2023 – JioCinema could be the brand new dwelling for WB’s catalogue of TV collection and motion pictures in India. However, the library is not solely restricted to HBO originals — as seen with Disney+ Hotstar — and consists of Max Original (previously HBO Max) and different Warner Bros. productions as effectively. Previously, 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 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,” Clement Schwebig, President, Warner Bros. Discovery (India, Southeast Asia, and Korea) mentioned in a press launch. “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.”
“JioCinema has become the biggest platform for live sports. We are now on a mission to build the most magnetic destination for entertainment for all Indians,” Ferzad Palia, Head – SVOD & International Business, Viacom18, mentioned. “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 the most comprehensive destination for our users.”
The deal consists of present and future seasons of critically-acclaimed HBO collection resembling House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, Euphoria, The White Lotus, and Succession’s fourth and remaining season, which didn’t air in India concurrently in the US, due to the take care of Disney+ Hotstar concluding on the finish of March.
On March 31, Disney+ Hotstar eliminated all HBO content material — spanning Game of Thrones, The Last of Us, and extra — with stories suggesting that the shake-up has to do with inner restructuring and cost-cutting measures, laid out by returning Disney CEO Bob Iger. At the time, Amazon Prime Video was thought-about as a high candidate to purchase 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 provide 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 initiatives being produced in India. The press launch additional notes that new content material resembling Sam Levinson’s The Idol and Park Chan-wook’s The Sympathizer will probably be out there to stream on the identical day because the US premiere.
What’s totally different this time is the inclusion of Max Original and Warner Bros. productions, which beforehand didn’t have an Indian vacation spot until the final viewers confirmed demand for it. That’s why James Gunn’s Peacemaker took some time to arrive in India; it wasn’t included in the Hotstar deal. At this level, it’s unclear if ongoing reveals resembling The Flight Attendant, And Just 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 collection The Penguin and Dune: The Sisterhood, the prequel collection based mostly on the 2012 sci-fi novel Sisterhood of Dune, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Be looking out for the Harry Potter TV collection as effectively.
Any Warner Bros. blockbuster motion pictures together with the Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and the DC Universe franchise will probably be packaged into JioCinema, alongside animated titles like Dexter’s Laboratory and Tom and Jerry Kids. This is including to the IPL (Indian Premier League) content material out there 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 destination to watch the FIFA World Cup, final yr, including an in-app function to rewind again to re-watch key highlights from a match.
Currently, there are not any pricing particulars or a concrete date for accessing Warner Bros./ HBO content material on JioCinema, which as of now’s supplied totally free, however is anticipated to begin charging a subscription charge after IPL 2023.
