Indiaโs leading streamer JioHotstar has launched internationally in the U.K., Canada and Singapore, bringing its catalog of more than 160,000 hours of entertainment across more than 12 Asian languages alongside interactive features, personalized recommendations and new subscription options.
The expansion moves beyond a straightforward catalog rollout, introducing audiences in the three markets to a redesigned discovery and viewing experience built around personalization and real-time engagement, according to the company.
The service was previously available in the U.K., Canada and Singapore as Hotstar. JioHotstar arrives as an all-new app, carrying the content library and product experience of JioHotstarโs India platform.
Parent company JioStar is launching the platform with a new slate of originals, including โAli Baba Aur Chaalis Bhoot,โ โPrince of Mollywood,โ โPart Timersโ and โThe Court,โ alongside blockbuster movie premieres through the year.
The immensely popular Indian Premier League cricket tournament and other cricket competitions JioStar owns the Indian rights for, will not be part of the launch package, Variety understands.
Reality franchise โBigg Bossโ returns across six languages, and for the first time, viewers in Singapore, Canada and the U.K. can cast live votes throughout each edition. Viewers in Canada and the U.K. will also get access to a 24/7 live feed, while Canada will be able to watch โBigg Boss Hindiโ seven days ahead of its television broadcast.
Actor Anil Kapoor hosts a new game show format, โIndia Ka Top 1 Percent,โ which will be available to audiences in Canada and Singapore.
JioHotstar is also bringing content from JioStarโs television channels, including โStar Plus,โ โColors,โ โStar Vijay,โ โAsianet,โ โStar Jalshaโ and โStar Pravah.โ Viewers in Singapore and Canada will get Before-TV access to popular shows including โAnupama,โ โYeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai,โ โSeher Hone Ko Haiโ and โAzhagae Azhagu,โ while U.K. audiences can watch popular shows simultaneously with their television broadcast.
The new titles join JioHotstarโs existing library, which includes originals such as โCriminal Justice,โ โSpecial Ops,โ โChiraiya,โ โPritam & Pedro,โ โAsur,โ โAarya,โ โHeartbeat,โ โVikram on Duty,โ โKerala Crime Files,โ โResortโ and โKaattaanโ; reality franchises including โKoffee With Karan,โ โBhojpuri Bawaal,โ โKhatron Ke Khiladi,โ โMTV Hustle,โ โSplitsvilla,โ โLaughter Chefs โ Unlimited Entertainment,โ โRoadiesโ and โCooku With Comaliโ; and films including โVaazha,โ โDhurandhar,โ โChhichhore,โ โKesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh,โ โKill,โ โ12th Failโ and โJab We Met.โ
JioHotstar is available on mobile and connected TV, with the app downloadable through the App Store and Google Play Store across all three markets. Android users in the U.K., Canada and Singapore can now complete sign-up entirely inside the app.
For the first time, the company is offering a quarterly option in all three markets, giving subscribers a shorter commitment alongside its existing annual plans. Hotstar app users can download the new JioHotstar app and sign in with their existing Hotstar credentials, with their plan converting automatically to the matching JioHotstar tier. In the U.K., existing subscribers can keep their current monthly plans for as long as auto-renewal remains active.
Updated pricing effective Sept. 2 is ยฃ19.99 ($27.20) per quarter and ยฃ69.99 ($95.20) annually in the U.K.; CAD19.99 ($14.50) per quarter and CAD49.99 ($36.30) annually in Canada; and SGD29.98 ($23.60) per quarter and SGD69.98 ($55.10) annually in Singapore.
The platform also carries premium-quality subtitles and dubbing in more than 12 Asian languages, among them English, Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada and Marathi.
โStreaming has spent the last decade competing on the size of its catalogue,โ said Amit Malhotra, head โ international business, JioStar. โWe believe the bigger opportunity now is to reimagine how audiences experience entertainment; not just what they watch, but how they discover, engage with and shape the experience in real time. South Asian audiences have a deep connection with Indian entertainment across languages, generations and households. At the same time, audiences globally are increasingly seeking stories and cultures beyond their own. We see an opportunity to build for this broader, underserved global audience โ not simply export an Indian streaming service to new markets.โ
โAs we expand internationally, our ambition is to show what becomes possible when scale, language, cultural diversity, personalisation and deeper audience participation are built into the streaming experience from day one,โ Malhotra added.
JioStar says JioHotstarโs base of more than 500 million active users makes it one of the largest streaming platforms worldwide, pointing to features such as conversational voice discovery, AI-driven personalization and in-app commerce as part of its broader product strategy.