Ambani’s streaming site targets millions of Indians living overseas, including those in Singapore

Ambani’s streaming site targets millions of Indians living overseas, including those in Singapore

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JioHotstar is operated by JioStar, a media joint venture between Walt Disney Co. and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd.

India’s largest video streaming platform JioHotstar is expanding overseas for the first time, launching in Britain, Canada and Singapore as it seeks to tap millions of potential viewers in the growing South Asian diaspora.

“South Asian audiences have a deep connection with Indian entertainment across languages, generations and households,” Amit Malhotra, head of international business at JioStar, said in a statement. “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.”

The expansion gives JioHotstar a new avenue for growth beyond India’s fiercely competitive market, where it has amassed more than 500 million active users. It is betting its sprawling line-up, from hugely popular cricket and reality shows, and AI-powered personalisation can translate that reach into higher-value subscription revenue from diaspora audiences overseas.

India’s diaspora has grown to more than 37 million people, driven by decades of labour migration, an expanding pool of skilled professionals moving abroad and established Indian communities attracting new generations of migrants.

Canada is home to about 3.2 million people of Indian origin and Britain 1.3 million, while their broader South Asian populations, including Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, are also expanding. Singapore has about 483,000 overseas Indians, according to Indian government data.

Among the biggest draws will be Bigg Boss, India’s version of Big Brother, which has evolved over nearly two decades from a Hindi-language television show into a six-language franchise with a major streaming audience.

Its latest season repeatedly ranked as India’s most-watched non-fiction show on streaming last year, drawing roughly eight million viewers a week, according to audience measurement firm Ormax Media. Across all six language editions, the franchise reached more than 500 million viewers in 2025, with engagement rising 47 per cent from a year earlier, according to JioStar. The streaming platform is also leaning on familiar Bollywood faces, including Anil Kapoor, who previously hosted Bigg Boss OTT and now fronts a new prime-time game show.

The service will be available from Sept 2 through its mobile app and connected TVs, with quarterly and annual subscription plans. Existing Hotstar subscribers can access JioHotstar using the same accounts, according to the company.

Hollywood content from Disney and HBO Max will not be available on JioHotstar in global markets, as its licensing agreements with the US studios are limited to India.

“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,” Malhotra said. BLOOMBERG

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