Delhi techie acquires Jio Hotstar domain before Disney-Jio merger, proposes unique sale price to Reliance

The highly anticipated merger of JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar is poised to significantly impact India's streaming landscape. As two of the largest OTT players in terms of subscriber base, the combined platform could dominate the market, according to insiders. Although there hasn’t been any official announcement regarding the merger's specifics, reports suggest that a unified platform named JioHotstar will be created. However, this may become complicated, as a savvy Delhi techie has already secured the JioHotstar domain.

The JioHotstar domain name

The JioHotstar domain currently leads to a web page featuring the banner "JioHotstar: Best of Entertainment, Streaming Soon." However, the page is quite basic, lacking any logos or branding. It does include a message from the buyer, addressed to "dear executive of Reliance Industries."

The message reads: "I am an app developer based in Delhi, currently working on my startup. In early 2023, while scrolling through social media, I came across a news piece stating that Disney+ Hotstar was losing daily active users after losing the IPL streaming license, and Disney is considering selling or merging Hotstar with an Indian competitor. This led me to hypothesize that, since Sony and Zee were pursuing their own merger, Viacom 18 (owned by Reliance) is the only major player with sufficient resources to acquire Disney+ Hotstar. This reminded me of when Jio acquired the music streaming service Saavn, they rebranded it to JioSaavn, and changed the domain from Saavn.com to JioSaavn.com. I thought, "If they acquire Hotstar, they might rename it to JioHotstar.com"."

The ask from the developer

The developer said that they are willing to give up on the domain if Reliance can fund their dream of going to Cambridge University for higher education."I checked for the domain, and it was available. I was excited, as I felt that if this happened, I could find my goal of studying at Cambridge," they said, explaining that a project of theirs was selected for the Cambridge University Accelerate program a few years ago, and they want to study there but are unable to due to financial constraints. "Cambridge also offers a full degree program in entrepreneurship, which I've always dreamed of pursuing but could never afford. It's Cambridge, quite expensive. When I saw this domain become available, I felt things might just fall into place. My intention of buying this domain was simple: if this merger happens, I might be able to fulfill my dream of studying at Cambridge,"  

The developer has addressed both Viacom and Reliance Industries to reach out to them 'with an official letter attached, stating your authorisation to purchase' the domain name. "For a multi-billion dollar company like Reliance, this will be a minor expense, but for me, the sale of this domain would be truly life-changing," the note concludes.