Viacom18-owned JioCinema is introducing one of the industry’s most affordable pricing plans for premium content and thereby, may disrupt India’s subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) market.
According to the company, starting April 25, JioCinema Premium will provide Indian and Hollywood entertainment content at an introductory rate of Rs 29/month for one device and Rs 89/month for up to four devices. This move is followed by the success of its free strategy in the advertising video-on-demand (VOD) sector.
Furthermore, like other broadcast-owned over-the-top (OTT) platforms, JioCinema, will employ a hybrid monetization strategy and the live sports and catch-up broadcast content will remain free as per the company announcement.
Notably, JioCinema’s previous Rs 999/year and Rs 99/month plans, which provided only Hollywood content, have seen a substantial reduction in its new plan and will also be ad-free in comparison to its existing plans.
Elara Capital’s senior vice president Karan Taurani, said, “The new pricing is a sharp reduction for an ad-free experience. They are providing more content over and above the Hollywood content and charging less for this. The SVOD players will not be able to increase average revenue per user due to JioCinema’s aggressive pricing.”
JioCinema Premium will provide its users with a variety of content including movies, children’s programming, web originals, and Hollywood content from HBO, NBCUniversal, and Paramount Global. Additionally, Viacom18’s linear TV content will also be accessible before its broadcast premiere. Furthermore, the new pricing plan of JioCinema is expected to intensify competition with streaming platforms like Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix, and Prime Video, which together boast 50-60 million subscribers.
Experts suggest that the new pricing signals a shift towards a hybrid monetization model and the ongoing IPL cricket tournament provides the right opportunity to implement their updated pricing strategy.
Viacom18’s CEO-Digital Kiran Mani, said, “The introduction of JioCinema Premium breaks the numerous cost and quality barriers that exist in accessing premium entertainment.”
