Reliance-Disney's JioHotstar to invest $444m in South Indian content

JioHotstar, the streaming platform jointly owned by Reliance Industries and Disney, plans to invest US$444 million over five years in content from south India, an executive said on December 8, 2025.

The service, which has over 200 million subscribers in India, competes with Amazon Prime Video and Netflix in the country.

JioHotstar aims to acquire and produce movies and series in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam, and will also expand its non-scripted offerings.

Most of its film investments will focus on titles that have already been released in cinemas.

The platform said that users in southern Indian states spend 70% more time on the service compared to other regions.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

JioHotstar plans ~$89M a year for south-language hits, with safer post-theatrical buys

About $89 million a year from a $444 million five-year plan goes to the south, where usage runs higher. Users in these states spend 70% more time on the service, per JioHotstar, and the slate leans into Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.
Focus areas include making movies and buying shows in these languages. Film deals will lean toward post-theatrical (after cinema release) buys to pick proven winners.
JioHotstar competes with Amazon Prime Video and Netflix in India and keeps its Warner Bros. partnership in place until the scheduled end date.

Adtech and CTV providers see upside in south-language streaming growth

India’s Connected TV (CTV) ad market reached ₹1,500 crore in 2024 with 35% growth and could hit ₹2,500 crore by 2026. CTV homes crossed 40 million, which opens near-term revenue for programmatic ad platforms (software that automates digital ad buying and selling) targeting heavy viewers 1.
TV still holds over 40% of India’s $10 billion ad spend and CTV brings data-driven targeting with big-screen impact. Advertising technology (adtech) providers can benefit as direct-to-home (DTH) satellite viewing shifts to streaming 2.
Interactive and shoppable ads on CTV (experiences that let viewers purchase products directly on-screen) see 5x higher engagement than mobile. Companies offering contextual targeting solutions (based on program content rather than user identifiers) for regional language shows can grow as brands move to program-level contextual buys 3 4.