JioStar to Splash Rs 33,000 Crore on New Shows and Sports in 2026

JioStar, India’s largest media conglomerate formed by the merger of Reliance Industries’ Viacom18 and Walt Disney’s India unit, is set to invest a staggering Rs 33,000 crore in content creation for the fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26). This ambitious plan, announced by Vice-Chairman Uday Shankar at the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 in Mumbai, underscores the company’s commitment to transforming India’s entertainment landscape.

Shankar shared that JioStar’s been ramping up its spending big time. Back in FY24, they spent Rs 25,000 crore on content, and that jumped to Rs 30,000 crore in FY25. With FY26’s Rs 33,000 crore plan, their three-year content budget will top 10 billion USD (about Rs 84,000 crore). “Our investments are tailored for Indian audiences, addressing their tastes and aspirations, with recovery also driven by the domestic market,” Shankar said, explaining how JioStar’s different from global players chasing viewers abroad.

This huge budget will go into sports, movies, and shows, with a special focus on stuff that feels close to home for India’s diverse crowd. JioStar’s streaming app, JioHotstar, already has over 200 million paying users, making it the third-biggest streaming platform in the world, just behind Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Shankar thinks it could hit 300 million users during the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, thanks to the merger working out so well. A smart paywall for IPL streaming has also brought back fans to Pay TV, adding subscribers when many thought that market was fading. “India remains an exciting Pay TV market, and affordability is key,” Shankar said.

JioStar’s also planning to bring content in local languages like Bhojpuri and Haryanvi to reach more people and make more money. Shankar stressed that companies need clever ways to pay for all this, focusing on content people love and prices they can afford.

With this Rs 33,000 crore plan, JioStar’s aiming to be a global entertainment champ, telling Indian stories that click with its 500 million fans. It’s a bold move that’s set to change how India watches and enjoys entertainment.