Reliance-led JioStar, the country’s largest media company, may go back to the discussion table with regard to the $3-billion media rights deal with the International Cricket Council (ICC), sources in the know have told FE. The four-year-deal, which includes both TV and digital rights stretching from 2024 to 2027, is in the spotlight after JioStar recently indicated that it may be unable to service the contract for the remaining two years (2026 and 2027).
JioStar declined comment when contacted. ICC executives were not immediately available for comment. But JioStar, sources in the know said, may be open to renegotiation, with the transaction likely to be scaled down to about $2-2.1 billion in terms of value over four years (2026-2029).
Lukewarm response from competitors so far
The ICC is said to be seeking about $2.4 in terms of value for the four-year cycle, according to industry sources, having tapped rivals such as Sony Pictures Networks, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video among others to pick up the media rights. Response has been lukewarm so far from competitors given the weak TV advertising landscape in India and the price-sensitive nature of over-the-top (OTT) viewers in the country. Average revenue per user (ARPUs) for OTT plans are under $2 per month, amongst the lowest in the world, according to media experts.
With no takers for the media rights at $2.4 billion and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka in February, time is running out for ICC, sources said. For JioStar, a renegotiation may help, experts said, as it looks to cut its Rs 25,760-crore estimated losses with regard to cricket media rights.
At the same time, JioStar is looking to maintain its edge in sports programming amid the broader OTT consolidation likely in entertainment with rival Netflix announcing it will acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a $72-billion deal last week. Much of its English programming under an April 2023 deal between JioCinema, now part of the merged JioHotstar and Warner Bros. Discovery, including titles such as Succession, House of The Dragon, will shift to Netflix.
Surge in downloads
Last month, JioHotstar, which is the OTT platform of JioStar, crossed over one billion downloads on Google Play in India, joining apps such as Netflix that have achieved this milestone.
This follows the platforms already having a close race in terms of subscribers. JioHotstar, launched in February as the combined platform of JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, has about 300 million paid subscribers. On the other hand, Netflix, which is present in around 190 countries, is said to have about 309.8 million subscribers as of September, according to Bloomberg Consensus.
With over 500 million monthly active users, JioHotstar also leads the OTT market in the country. After Netflix, the other major platform in India to have over one billion downloads on Google Play is the e-commerce major’s free streaming platform, Amazon MX Player. Amazon Prime Video is said to have over 500 million downloads on Google Play, according to media experts.
