JioHotstar Expands to MENA Through STARZPLAY Partnership
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Khushi Jain
- October 7, 2026
JioHotstar, the streaming platform owned by JioStar, has expanded its international presence to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) through a partnership with streaming platform STARZPLAY.
Under the partnership, JioHotstar will be available as a dedicated streaming destination on the STARZPLAY app and website across the MENA region.
The offering will include JioHotstar Originals alongside their India release, television content from JioStar channels, films and reality shows. The content will be available in multiple languages, including Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Bangla.
The catalogue will also include the upcoming season of Koffee with Karan and the ongoing season of Bigg Boss across six languages.
JioHotstar Subscription Plans in MENA
JioHotstar will be available through STARZPLAY’s PLUS plan at AED 34.99 ($9.5) per month.
The MAX plan, priced at AED 49.99 ($13.6) per month, will combine the JioHotstar catalogue with STARZPLAY’s sports offering.
The MENA launch comes about a month after JioHotstar expanded beyond India into the UK, Canada and Singapore. The platform launched in these three markets in September with more than 160,000 hours of entertainment across 12 plus Asian languages.
The offering in these markets covers films, television, originals, regional programming, reality shows, kids’ content and anime.
JioHotstar had also introduced quarterly and annual subscription plans in the three markets, with existing Hotstar subscribers transitioning to equivalent JioHotstar plans.
Focus on South Asian Audiences
JioHotstar said its MENA offering will have a substantial Malayalam catalogue, given the region’s Malayali audience.
The company is also positioning the service around South Asian audiences in the region, while seeking to reach a wider audience interested in Indian entertainment.
Amit Malhotra, Head of International Business at JioStar, said the company sees MENA as a key market given its large South Asian diaspora and demand for multilingual entertainment.
Maaz Sheikh, CEO of STARZPLAY, said the partnership will combine JioHotstar’s Indian content catalogue with STARZPLAY’s regional reach and streaming capabilities.
JioHotstar currently claims more than 500 million monthly active users and a library of over 300,000 hours of programming across 19 languages.
The company has been expanding its international footprint as part of its strategy to build JioHotstar into a global streaming platform. The September launch marked its first major international rollout under the JioHotstar brand, with the service becoming available in the UK, Canada and Singapore.
FAQs
1. Where has JioHotstar expanded its international presence?
JioHotstar has expanded to the Middle East and North Africa through a partnership with STARZPLAY.
2. Where will JioHotstar be available in the MENA region?
JioHotstar will be available as a dedicated streaming destination on the STARZPLAY app and website.
3. How much does JioHotstar cost through STARZPLAY in MENA?
JioHotstar will be available through the PLUS plan at AED 34.99 ($9.5) per month, while the MAX plan costs AED 49.99 ($13.6) per month.
4. Which languages will be available on JioHotstar’s MENA offering?
The content will be available in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Bangla, among other languages.
5. How many monthly active users does JioHotstar claim?
JioHotstar currently claims more than 500 million monthly active users and a library of over 300,000 hours of programming across 19 languages.
