Reliance AGM | JioCinema is shaping the future of entertainment consumption in India, says Mukesh Ambani

Launched in 2016, JioCinema seems to be shaping the future of entertainment consumption in India. During the 46th annual general meeting (AGM) of shareholders, Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, emphasised the transformative impact of the Media and Entertainment business, highlighting the pivotal role played by JioCinema.

One of the standout accomplishments was the groundbreaking decision to stream the Indian Premier League (IPL) for free on the JioCinema platform. This led to the establishment of a global record, as 45 crore viewers flocked to the platform, setting an unparalleled benchmark.

A seismic shift in content consumption patterns was evident as more individuals chose digital devices over linear television to experience the IPL. The IPL's final match captured the attention of over 12 crore people, peaking at a concurrency of 3.2 crore, firmly cementing its status as a globally watched digital spectacle.

In June last year, Disney+ Star, one of the leading streaming platforms in India and JioCinema's rival, had lost the rights to broadcast the IPL on the digital platform to Reliance-owned Viacom18. Meanwhile, the partnership between HBO and Hotstar also ended, leaving the platform without some of its most successful and watched shows like Succession, Game of Thrones, Westworld among others. JioCinema has already signed a deal with HBO for its content.

Following this, Disney+ Hotstar saw the biggest decline in its subscriber base in August this year. The quarterly results showed a 24 percent drop in subscribers for Disney+ Hotstar in India.

"JioCinema has now become India’s largest digital entertainment destination for blockbuster movies, OTT originals, the biggest reality shows, and exclusive content from leading global studios like HBO and NBCU," Mukesh Ambani said.

Marking a success, JioCinema onboarded a record 23 sponsors to advertise on the platform in the opening week of the 16th season of the IPL. Both the number of advertisers roped in and the revenue booked are remarkably higher compared to the previous season of the tournament on digital platform .

The official Digital Streaming Partner of TATA IPL 2023 — JioCinema had also claimed to have broken its last season's record of overall video viewership and average viewership in a match in the very first week of this season. In addition to this, JioCinema registered over five crore app downloads in the first seven days of IPL 2023 with 2.5 crore downloads on the very first day.

The Reliance chairman said Reliance's VR headset JioDive, which provides a private viewing experience, "has revolutionised sports viewing in India. It gives the feel of a stadium-like experience through 360-degree viewing from anywhere, anyplace."

Ambani further said that its media wing Network18 also "made great progress in its journey to becoming the top news network in India". "It is going deeper locally and growing wider with international coverage," he added, saying that "our homegrown digital news platforms, Moneycontrol and Firstpost, are setting new benchmarks globally".

Besides other important announcements, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said that Jio 5G will cover the entire country by the end of the year. He said JioAirFiber will launch on Ganesh Chaturthi, September 19, and that Jio Platforms aims to lead efforts of developing AI-powered platforms that can deliver benefits to Indian citizens, businesses and government.

Nita Ambani said that for a long time, "Mukesh and I had nurtured a dream that India should have a world-class cultural centre. NMACC is a realisation of that dream". She informed that since the opening of the NMACC, "we have welcomed over 20 lakh visitors at the Centre".

"For me, the most heartwarming experience at NMACC has been Swadesh – our humble initiative to preserve and promote India’s age-old arts and crafts. At Swadesh, we give a global platform to India’s traditional artisans whom the Reliance Foundation has been honoured to support for over a decade," she added.

She also mentioned The Great Indian Musical: Civilization to Nation and the iconic Broadway musical The Sound of Music. "We hosted maestros of Indian arts like Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Pandit Kartick Kumar," she said.

She also announced a "new initiative, the Reliance Foundation Skilling Centres for Artisans", saying that "this digitally enabled capacity building programme will transform the crafts sector by creating attractive livelihoods and raising the social prestige of Indian artisans across the country.

Reliance' Annual Report 2022 stated that the revenue from media and entertainment industry was at Rs 6,831 crore. All revenue and EBITDA figures in the report were for the year ending March 31, 2022.