JioHotstar Expands to MENA Through STARZPLAY Partnership

JioHotstar has expanded into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) through a partnership with streaming platform STARZPLAY, marking a significant step in JioHotstar’s MENA expansion strategy. Under the partnership, JioHotstar will be offered as a dedicated streaming destination on the STARZPLAY app and website across the MENA region.

JioHotstar MENA Launch Brings Indian Content to STARZPLAY

The JioHotstar MENA offering will feature JioHotstar Originals alongside their India releases, television programming from JioStar channels, films and reality shows. The catalogue will span multiple Indian languages, including Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Bangla.

The service will also carry the upcoming season of Koffee with Karan and the ongoing season of Bigg Boss in six languages, giving subscribers access to popular Indian entertainment formats.

JioHotstar MENA Plans Start at AED 34.99 Per Month

JioHotstar will be available through STARZPLAY’s PLUS subscription plan at AED 34.99 ($9.5) per month. Subscribers opting for the MAX plan at AED 49.99 ($13.6) per month will receive the JioHotstar catalogue along with STARZPLAY’s sports offering.

The partnership is designed to combine JioHotstar’s extensive Indian content library with STARZPLAY’s established presence and streaming infrastructure across the MENA region.

JioHotstar Targets South Asian Audiences in MENA

JioHotstar said its MENA catalogue will feature a substantial selection of Malayalam content, reflecting the region’s large Malayali population. The platform is also targeting the wider South Asian diaspora while seeking to attract viewers interested in Indian entertainment.

Amit Malhotra, Head of International Business at JioStar, said MENA represents an important market because of its sizeable South Asian diaspora and demand for multilingual entertainment.

Maaz Sheikh, CEO of STARZPLAY, said the partnership would bring together JioHotstar’s Indian content catalogue and STARZPLAY’s regional reach and streaming capabilities.

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JioHotstar Expands International Presence Beyond India

The MENA launch comes around a month after JioHotstar entered the UK, Canada and Singapore in September. The platform launched across the three markets with more than 160,000 hours of entertainment spanning over 12 Asian languages.

Its international catalogue includes films, television, originals, regional programming, reality shows, children’s content and anime. JioHotstar also introduced quarterly and annual subscription plans in these markets, with existing Hotstar subscribers transitioning to equivalent JioHotstar plans.

JioHotstar Claims Over 500 Million Monthly Active Users

JioHotstar currently claims more than 500 million monthly active users and over 300,000 hours of programming across 19 languages.

The latest MENA expansion forms part of JioStar’s broader strategy to establish JioHotstar as a global streaming platform. Following its September rollout in the UK, Canada and Singapore, the MENA partnership further extends the platform’s international reach and strengthens its focus on audiences seeking Indian and multilingual entertainment.