JioHotstar expands international footprint with MENA launch

JioHotstar, India’s largest streaming platform, has expanded its international footprint to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), following its launches in the UK, Canada and Singapore.

The streaming platform has partnered with STARZPLAY to bring JioHotstar’s entertainment offering to audiences across the region. JioHotstar will be available as a dedicated streaming destination within the STARZPLAY app and website.

The partnership will give MENA audiences access to new JioHotstar Originals alongside their India releases, with content available with audio tracks in up to 10 languages. The offering will also include television content from JioStar channels, films and reality franchises, including the upcoming season of Koffee with Karan and the ongoing season of Bigg Boss across six languages.


The content library will span Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Bangla and other languages, with a substantial Malayalam catalogue aimed at the region’s Malayali audience.

The JioHotstar experience will be available through STARZPLAY’s PLUS plan at AED 34.99 per month. Its MAX plan, priced at AED 49.99 per month, will combine the complete JioHotstar entertainment offering with STARZPLAY’s sports portfolio, including major sporting events.

“The strong early response to JioHotstar across the UK, Canada and Singapore has reinforced our belief in the global opportunity for Indian entertainment,” Amit Malhotra, Head – International Business, JioStar, said.

He said MENA was a crucial next market given its large South Asian diaspora and demand for multilingual entertainment. The partnership with STARZPLAY, he added, would allow JioHotstar to enter the region with scale and take Indian stories, talent and cultural moments to audiences globally.

Maaz Sheikh, CEO of STARZPLAY, said the partnership was aimed at bringing together complementary brands and making the streaming experience more valuable for audiences in a fragmented market.

“Bringing JioHotstar to STARZPLAY is a strategic investment in that future, combining the strength of India’s storytelling with our understanding of this region and the audiences we serve,” he said.

Sheikh said STARZPLAY’s existing relationship with South Asian audiences had been strengthened by cricket, while JioHotstar would allow the platform to extend that relationship beyond sports and into everyday entertainment.

The launch was marked by a projection of JioHotstar’s “Big Bang” on Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, bringing the streaming brands together on the landmark skyscraper.

With the MENA launch, JioHotstar now lists the UK, Canada, Singapore and MENA among its international markets. The company said it is continuing to explore AI-powered personalisation, conversational discovery, interactive entertainment and in-app commerce as it expands its streaming presence.

STARZPLAY, which is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, has 2.3 million subscribers and more than 18 million app downloads. Its offering includes Hollywood films, original productions, Arabic series, Turkish dramas, live sports and family programming.

JioHotstar has 500 million monthly active users and a library of more than 300,000 hours of programming across 19 languages. Its content spans movies, originals, live sports, live events, anime, kids’ entertainment and television shows from more than 100 channels in the JioStar network.