Reliance's broadcast business has reached an agreement with Warner Bros Discovery Inc. for its streaming platform JioCinema, making a major drive to bring Hollywood programming to the platform and compete with Netflix and Amazon.
Sources with firsthand knowledge of the transaction reported the deal earlier on Thursday.
"HBO Original, Max Original, and Warner Bros. Television series are set to premiere on JioCinema on the same day as the US," the businesses announced.
Clement Schwebig, Warner Bros.' President for India, Southeast Asia, and Korea, stated that the agreement was part of the company's commitment to the South Asian market as it seeks to expand the scale of its regional business.
According to one source, the relationship will be exclusive, with most of Warner's flagship titles available on the JioCinema platform. According to the insider, Warner cannot give most of its popular titles to other Indian rivals such as Amazon Prime Video and Disney Hotstar.
"It's a deep exclusive arrangement that will make JioCinema the house of Warner and HBO in India," added the insider.
The content agreement would add thousands of hours of streaming programming to JioCinema, which has gained popularity for presenting the IPL cricket tournament for free on the site during the current season.
Several of HBO's top-rated shows, including Succession, which had aired in India on the Disney Hotstar platform until March 31 as part of a partnership between the two firms that expired on that day, were cancelled.
JioCinema aims to compete with Netflix and Amazon in a market where such platforms are becoming increasingly popular because to low data pricing.