Mumbai: JioHotstar has expanded its international footprint with a launch across the UK, Canada and Singapore, taking its entertainment catalogue and technology-led streaming experience to audiences beyond India. The move marks a significant step in JioStar’s ambition to position JioHotstar as a global entertainment platform, with the service combining more than 160,000 hours of content across 12+ languages and multiple genres.
The international rollout is aimed primarily at the South Asian diaspora while also seeking to attract a wider global audience interested in Indian stories, regional languages and diverse cultural content. JioHotstar said its catalogue will continue to grow, with more than 30,000 hours of fresh content expected to be added annually.
The platform’s offering across the three markets spans television, films, regional programming, non-fiction, kids and anime. The launch slate brings together new originals, movie premieres, established entertainment franchises and content from JioStar’s television network.
Among the key launches is Bigg Boss, which will be available across six languages with a significantly more interactive experience for international audiences. Viewers in the UK, Canada and Singapore will be able to vote live across every edition of the reality franchise, allowing them to participate in the show in real time. Subscribers in Canada and the UK will additionally get access to the 24×7 Bigg Boss live feed, while viewers in Canada will be able to watch Bigg Boss Hindi seven days ahead of its television broadcast.
The platform is also introducing India Ka Top 1 Percent, a new game show hosted by Anil Kapoor, for audiences in Canada and Singapore. The format will test contestants on logic and reasoning.
JioHotstar’s original programming slate includes titles such as Ali Baba Aur Chaalis Bhoot, Prince of Mollywood, Part Timers and The Court, alongside a pipeline of blockbuster movie premieres through the year.
The service is also bringing content from JioStar’s television network to international subscribers. Channels and programming from Star Plus, Colors, Star Vijay, Asianet, Star Jalsha and Star Pravah will form part of the offering. Subscribers in Singapore and Canada will receive early access to select popular shows, including Anupama, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Seher Hone Ko Hai and Azhagae Azhagu. In the UK, selected programmes will be available simultaneously with their television broadcast.
The new international catalogue builds on JioHotstar’s existing library of originals, reality franchises and films. Its programming includes titles such as Criminal Justice, Special Ops, Aarya, Asur, Kerala Crime Files, Heartbeat and Resort, along with franchises including Koffee with Karan, Khatron Ke Khiladi, MTV Hustle, Splitsvilla, Laughter Chefs – Unlimited Entertainment, Roadies and Cooku with Comali. Its movie library includes titles such as Vaazha, Dhurandhar, Chhichhore, Kill, 12th Fail and Jab We Met.
At the product level, JioHotstar is positioning the international launch around personalisation, discovery and audience participation rather than simply expanding the size of its content library.
Amit Malhotra, Head – International Business, JioStar, said, “Streaming has spent the last decade competing on the size of its catalogue. We believe the bigger opportunity now is to reimagine how audiences experience entertainment; not just what they watch, but how they discover, engage with and shape the experience in real time. South Asian audiences have a deep connection with Indian entertainment across languages, generations and households. At the same time, audiences globally are increasingly seeking stories and cultures beyond their own. We see an opportunity to build for this broader, underserved global audience – not simply export an Indian streaming service to new markets.”
He added, “As we expand internationally, our ambition is to show what becomes possible when scale, language, cultural diversity, personalisation and deeper audience participation are built into the streaming experience from day one.”
The platform has been designed for viewing across mobile devices and connected TVs, while its updated interface uses personalised recommendations to support content discovery based on individual viewing behaviour. JioHotstar is also offering subtitles and dubbing across more than 12 Asian languages, including English, Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada and Marathi, with the aim of making the service accessible to multi-generational and multilingual households.
The international expansion also brings changes to JioHotstar’s subscription architecture. For the first time, quarterly plans are being introduced across all three markets alongside annual subscriptions. Effective September 2, the quarterly and annual plans are priced at GBP 19.99 and GBP 69.99 respectively in the UK, CAD 19.99 and CAD 49.99 in Canada, and SGD 29.98 and SGD 69.98 in Singapore.
Existing Hotstar subscribers in the three markets will be transitioned to equivalent JioHotstar plans using their existing credentials, with the company stating that the process will not result in service disruption. UK subscribers on existing monthly plans can continue on those plans while auto-renewal remains active. Android users across the three markets will also be able to subscribe directly within the app.
The service will be available through the App Store and Google Play Store across the UK, Canada and Singapore.
JioHotstar currently counts more than 500 million active users and has been expanding its technology capabilities across areas such as conversational voice discovery, AI-powered personalisation, in-app commerce and interactive entertainment.
With the international launch, JioStar is taking those capabilities alongside its Indian content portfolio into three overseas markets, signalling a broader strategy of building JioHotstar not merely as an overseas distribution vehicle for Indian programming but as an entertainment product designed around the viewing and engagement needs of global audiences.
