JioHotstar Expands Into Middle East and North Africa Through Starzplay Partnership

India’s largest streaming platform, JioHotstar, has launched in the Middle East and North Africa through a strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi-based Starzplay. The expansion targets one of the world’s largest South Asian diaspora communities and marks a crucial step in Reliance Industries‘ push to transform the service into a global streaming platform.

The MENA launch follows earlier rollouts in the U.K., Canada, and Singapore. JioHotstar will operate as a dedicated hub inside the Starzplay app and website, offering viewers seamless access to Indian entertainment across multiple languages and formats. The platform serves more than 500 million monthly active users in India and aims to replicate that success internationally.

Regional viewers will watch new JioHotstar originals simultaneously with their India premieres, with audio available in as many as 10 languages. The catalog includes series from JioStar‘s television channels, blockbuster films, and major reality franchises such as a new season of “Koffee With Karan” and the current season of “Bigg Boss”, which airs in six languages. Popular shows spanning Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Bangla-language programming form the content mix.

Targeting Kerala’s Regional Audience

The Malayalam catalog receives special emphasis, reflecting the substantial audience hailing from Kerala, where it serves as the dominant language. This strategic focus acknowledges the large Malayali population residing throughout the Middle East and North Africa region, particularly in the Gulf states. The platform’s multilingual approach allows JioHotstar to serve diverse linguistic communities within the broader South Asian diaspora.

“The strong early response to JioHotstar across the U.K., Canada and Singapore has reinforced our belief in the global opportunity for Indian entertainment,” said Amit Malhotra, head of international business at JioStar. “As we build JioHotstar into a truly global streaming platform, MENA is a crucial next market, with one of the world’s largest South Asian diaspora communities and a deep appetite for entertainment across languages.”

Malhotra emphasized that the partnership with Starzplay enables the company to enter the region with immediate scale and deliver audiences the full breadth of JioHotstar‘s offerings, from new originals and daily television to blockbuster films and iconic reality franchises. He described the move as an important step in taking Indian stories, talent, and cultural moments to audiences worldwide.

Different Approach From Earlier Launches

The MENA expansion differs from JioHotstar‘s September launch in the U.K., Canada, and Singapore, where the platform replaced Hotstar and debuted as a stand-alone streaming service. In contrast, the MENA market sees JioHotstar integrated within an existing platform rather than operating independently. This approach leverages Starzplay‘s established regional presence and subscriber base of more than 2.3 million users.

As with its earlier international debuts, JioHotstar‘s own sports offering available in India will not extend to MENA. However, subscribers who choose Starzplay‘s Max plan at AED 49.99 (approximately $13.60) monthly will access both the full JioHotstar lineup and Starzplay‘s sports rights, including cricket coverage. JioHotstar content is also included in Starzplay‘s Plus plan, priced at AED 34.99 (around $9.50) monthly.

Strategic Partnership Benefits Both Platforms

Starzplay CEO Maaz Sheikh highlighted that regional streamers will grow by pairing strong brands and delivering viewers more value for their subscriptions. He argued that audiences should not navigate an increasingly fragmented market to find entertainment that matters to them. Sheikh positions the collaboration as combining the strength of India’s storytelling with Starzplay‘s regional understanding and audience insights.

“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,” Sheikh said.

Starzplay positions itself as the region’s main destination for cricket, making the sports component of the bundled offering particularly attractive to South Asian viewers. The platform’s emphasis on cricket aligns naturally with JioHotstar‘s entertainment catalog, creating a comprehensive package for diaspora audiences seeking both sports and cultural content from their home countries.

Origins of the JioHotstar Platform

Reliance and Disney created JioHotstar after merging their Indian media businesses into an $8.5 billion joint venture in 2024. The service combined JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar and launched in India in February last year. Before JioHotstar‘s launch, Hotstar maintained availability in MENA through a separate arrangement.

Disney Star expanded its distribution deal with evision, e&‘s media and entertainment arm, in 2024, making it the regional home of Hotstar Specials. Evision also holds a major shareholder position in Starzplay, where JioHotstar now operates its first dedicated streaming presence in the region. This existing relationship between evision and Starzplay likely facilitated the partnership negotiations and integration process.

Building a Global Streaming Empire

The MENA expansion represents a critical milestone in Reliance Industries‘ ambition to build JioHotstar into a truly global streaming platform. After establishing a massive audience in India, the company now pursues international markets where South Asian diaspora communities create natural demand for Indian entertainment content. The phased rollout across different regions allows JioHotstar to refine its international strategy and adapt to local market conditions.

The company’s global opportunity lies in serving diaspora audiences who maintain strong cultural connections to India and seek entertainment in their native languages. By offering simultaneous premieres with India, JioHotstar ensures that international viewers experience content alongside domestic audiences, eliminating delays that have historically characterized international distribution. This day-and-date release strategy positions JioHotstar as a premium service delivering fresh, culturally relevant content to viewers worldwide.