JioCinema introduced a new monthly subscription on Thursday, with the lowest tier costing just 35 cents. The revamp of its pricing strategy comes as the market-leading service looks to put greater pressure on rivals including Netflix and Prime Video.
The service – backed by Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani – introduced two monthly tiers: Rs 89 ($1), with support for four simultaneous screen access, and Rs 29, with single screen access. Aside from simultaneous viewing, both tiers offer identical features, including an ad-free experience, the ability to stream in 4K, and download for offline viewing.
JioCinema Premium subscribers can enjoy the ad-free experience across the platform, including on the ongoing popular cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, a spokesperson confirmed to JS. JioCinema Premium also offers access to everything else on the platform, including a huge library of content from Peacock, HBO, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.
JioCinema had launched an annual premium tier with the international catalog priced at Indian Rupees 999 last year. Viacom18, the parent company of JioCinema, is discontinuing the previous tier and those who had subscribed to it will automatically switch to the new plan, according to the spokesperson.
The service will also continue to offer free ad-supported streaming of the cricket tournament, the spokesperson added.
The price change follows Ambani's Reliance – which owns most of Viacom18 – merging its media operations with Disney's local operations earlier this year. The joint venture, valued at $8.5 billion, could capture 85% of India's on-demand streaming service audience and about half of TV viewers, analysts said.
“The introduction of JioCinema Premium breaks the numerous cost and quality barriers that exist in accessing premium entertainment,” said Kiran Mani, CEO of Viacom18 Digital, in a statement. “With 4K streaming, best-in-class audio, offline playback and no device limitations, all at a consumer-centric price point, it is sure to democratize access to quality entertainment across India.”
This is a development story. More to follow.
