India’s streaming platform JioHotstar has reached a major milestone, reporting 300 million subscribers just four months after its launch. This brings the platform extremely close to Netflix’s last reported global subscriber count of 301.63 million, according to JioStar, the parent company of JioHotstar.
The announcement was made during the APOS 2025 media summit currently being held in Bali, Indonesia. JioHotstar’s rapid rise is being linked directly to the overwhelming success of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), which concluded recently.
The platform was created after the November 2024 merger of Reliance-backed Viacom18 and Star India, which led to the formation of JioStar. The digital arms of both entities JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar were merged into a single platform, JioHotstar, which officially launched on February 14, 2025, with an initial base of 50 million subscribers.
According to executives and industry experts, JioHotstar added 150 million subscribers within weeks of the IPL’s start in March. An additional 100 million subscribers joined during the tournament, taking the total to 300 million a figure that places it among the world’s leading OTT platforms.
Furthermore, the 2025 IPL edition played a crucial role in driving viewership. As per a joint report by JioStar and Media Partners Asia, the digital audience for the IPL reached 652 million, overtaking television’s reach of 537 million viewers. This marks a significant shift in how Indian audiences are consuming live sports content.
The overall reach of IPL 2025 across both TV and digital platforms was reported at 1.19 billion. The average daily reach during the season stood at 121 million on television and 170 million on digital platforms, highlighting a growing trend towards mobile and connected TV viewing.
Additionally, connected TV (CTV) audiences played a key role. Of the 652 million digital viewers, 235 million watched via connected TV, while 417 million accessed the content through mobile phones.
Sanjog Gupta, CEO, Sports and Live Experiences at JioStar, said, “Apart from viewership, we have also managed to make this IPL the most monetised edition of the event and also the most monetised sporting event ever in India across advertising and subscription revenue.”
According to sources, JioStar generated nearly ₹5,000 crore in advertising revenue during the 2025 IPL season, surpassing last year’s total of ₹4,500 crore. The platform partnered with over 425 brands, including 270 first-time advertisers from 40 different sectors, despite a one-week pause in May due to geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
Notably, the television side also performed well. Around 129 million TV viewers tuned in via Star Sports HD, indicating a strong interest in premium content. The report also highlighted that 47% of Star Sports’ TV audience were women, pointing to a more balanced gender viewership.
The report also revealed impressive performance metrics on the technical front. JioHotstar achieved 1.04 billion downloads on Android devices, and peak concurrency the highest number of simultaneous users reached 55.2 million during key IPL matches. On television, the total watch time amounted to 514 billion minutes across the season.
Additionally, JioHotstar’s growth positions it as a major competitor to global platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. With a strong mobile-first strategy, regional content offerings, and live sports streaming capabilities, the platform is becoming a key player in India’s digital entertainment sector. As the Indian streaming market continues to evolve, JioHotstar’s performance during IPL 2025 offers a glimpse into how sports, technology, and content strategy can combine to drive both viewership and revenue on a massive scale.