JioHotstar, the world’s second-largest streaming platform by subscribers, will invest ₹4,000 crore in the South Indian creative economy over the next five years—its most ambitious regional push yet. The investment goes beyond acquiring film titles or backing original shows; the platform plans to build a full-fledged creator ecosystem, from writers’ training programmes to funding content for emerging filmmakers.
“We are investing capital both to help creators tell their stories as well as strengthen the creative infrastructure,” Sushant Sreeram, head – SVOD business & chief marketing officer, JioStar, told FE. On Tuesday, JioHotstar formalised a Letter of Intent with the Tamil Nadu government in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin to launch the initiative in the state. The commitment includes investment in talent development, expansion of creative infrastructure and building a future-ready creative economy from the South, with the potential to create 1,000 direct and 15,000 indirect jobs.
What did Sushant Sreeram say?
Sreeram said the programme will begin in Tamil Nadu and scale nationwide. “We will obviously continue to expand this across the country,” he said. JioHotstar is owned by JioStar, the joint venture formed through the merger of Reliance Industries’ media business with the India operations of The Walt Disney Company. The platform claims 400 million active users and 200 million paying subscribers, positioning it as the world’s second-largest streamer after Netflix.
Krishnan Kutty, head – entertainment (South), JioStar, said the partnership with Tamil Nadu is aimed at strengthening the state’s creative infrastructure through training, internships, local content support and skill-building across the entertainment value chain. “We are going to be launching internship programs both for skills in front of the camera as well as behind the camera,” Kutty said.
JioHotstar to roll out creator-focused programmes
As part of the initiative, JioHotstar will roll out creator-focused programmes, including writing labs, mentorship tracks and workshops to nurture emerging filmmakers, writers, editors and digital storytellers. Participants will be able to pitch projects—from scripted series to micro-dramas—with opportunities to showcase their work on the platform.
JioHotstar already hosts more than 300,000 hours of entertainment spanning TV shows, reality formats, news, sports, long-format series and films. While the platform has invested significantly in scripted originals, Kutty said there is substantial headroom in non-scripted programming. “Over the next 12 months, you are going to sit and see a lot of action from us within that space,” he said.
Along with film acquisitions in the South, JioHotstar plans a larger push into originals and non-fiction. The move comes amid heightened competition, with SonyLiv, Zee5, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video all expanding their regional offerings, especially in southern languages.
Sreeram said the strategy is shaped by pan-India viewing patterns. “Close to 25% of the total consumption or time spent by our ‘Hindi viewers’ is actually on content across the four (southern) languages,” he said.
On the potential impact of Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, Sreeram said “there is dust still in the air” around the deal. JioHotstar currently has a licensing arrangement with Warner Bros that remains in effect. “If and when the relationship should change, will there be an impact on the business and our consumer proposition? There are reasons to believe it will,” he said, adding that the platform’s focus is on investing early to ensure customers feel no disruption.
JioHotstar carries a wide library of Hollywood and international content from global studios including Disney, NBCUniversal Peacock, Warner Bros Discovery HBO and Paramount.
Sreeram declined to comment on reports that JioStar is considering an early exit from its $3-billion ICC media rights deal for India due to mounting losses. “It’s going to be another busy calendar. We have an India South Africa tour followed by the T20 World Cup and then IPL,” he said.