Jiostar: Jio and Hotstar’s rumored merger to make new fierce competition in streaming market
A new website ‘Jiostar.com’ has surfaced on the internet, on which a “coming soon” teaser is visible. It is being speculated that Reliance Industries is planning to reorganize its streaming services soon.
According to reports by The Economic Times, Reliance Industries plans to retain Disney+ Hotstar as the main streaming platform. Sources say that after the new merger, JioCinema will be integrated into Disney+ Hotstar, making it a major platform for the combined entity.
Earlier, Reliance had considered several strategies for its streaming business. These ideas also included merging Disney+ Hotstar into JioCinema. Besides, the company had also discussed the possibility of running separate streaming platforms, one for sports and the other for entertainment.
Amid speculations of a merger between JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, the emergence of Jiostar.com is giving rise to new discussions. Though the website only has a “coming soon” sign right now, industry experts believe it could be a potential new brand that could become part of Reliance’s digital media plans.
In an interesting development during this controversy, Dubai-based siblings, Jainam and Jeevika, have offered to give Reliance the ‘JioHotstar.com’ domain for free. They said they had bought the domain from a Delhi-based app developer who wanted to sell it to raise funds for their education. Jainam and Jeevika had bought the domain as part of their “seva service” and had no intention of selling it. He clarified that his intention is not to make a profit from it and he is ready to give it to Reliance for no cost.
Now it remains to be seen whether Jiostar.com will become a part of any new plan of Reliance or it has been launched only to increase the buzz. There is no clarity yet on how Jiostar.com will be introduced from the plan of merger of Jio and Disney+ Hotstar. But it is certain that this new step in the Indian streaming market can bring exciting changes.
