In an entertainment ecosystem that’s rapidly fragmenting across screens, subscriptions, and formats, JioStar is taking a different route, not just to unite content under one umbrella but to reimagine how a billion people engage with storytelling itself.
At AVIA’s ‘Future of Video India’ conference, part of the inaugural WAVES summit, Sushant Sreeram, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), JioStar, made it clear that the newly-formed entity isn’t simply another media conglomerate in the making. With ambitions rooted in emotional resonance rather than algorithmic attention, the platform is positioning itself at the intersection of access, scale, and personalisation.
He said, “I’ve been in this role for around seven months now. But when I think about the scale of what we’ve set out to build and how much ground we’ve already covered, it honestly feels like much longer. Very little of that credit goes to me, it truly belongs to the phenomenal teams across JioStar who’ve made it all happen.”
“Just to give some context, JioStar itself is only about five to six months old. We brought together the businesses and platforms under the JioStar umbrella in November last year. So it’s still very early days, almost like day zero, and I’m genuinely excited about what lies ahead,” he added.
When asked how he approaches his role as CMO and what lies ahead, Sreeram shared that the focus wasn’t merely on two platforms or businesses coming together, it was viewed as an opportunity to reset. “To reset what it means to be an entertainment destination for all of you,” he said.
Over the recent past, media and entertainment, especially streaming in India, had become adept at segmenting audiences, co-opting different consumer segments, and building business models around them: premium users, free users, ad-supported models, and so on. But with this integration, the goal was to go beyond slicing audiences and instead redefine what it truly means to deliver a unified entertainment experience for the entire country.
“Our brand agenda, rather than cutting across languages or genres, though those are relevant, starts with the aspiration of being a brand for everybody,” he explained. “Since we are in the content business and always speak of IP, our promise to consumers is ‘IP: Infinite Possibilities.’” The idea, he added, is not to force users to choose but to serve them across everything they want to see.
He highlighted that the integrated business is only about five months old. On the broadcast side alone, they already reach over 360 million people daily on TV. In March, their digital platform saw nearly half a billion users, and those numbers have grown even more in April.
“The ambition isn’t just about scale but about defining what we need to stand for when serving millions of Indians, and eventually reaching a billion screens.” Achieving that, he said, will require reimagining every aspect- distribution, content, marketing, pricing, and subscriptions. “It’s early days, but we’re very excited. We’re all listening.”
When asked about the monetisation vision and how the service balances subscription and advertising, Sreeram explained that it’s actually a spectrum, not limited to just advertising and subscriptions.
“There’s advertising, there’s subscriptions, micropayments, video commerce, and even social currency commerce like tipping. It’s a full spectrum,” he said.
He emphasised that it’s not a matter of choosing between advertising and subscription, but rather viewing both as part of a continuum. “On JioHotstar, anyone can start watching content for free, be it IPL, a favourite show, or a movie. At the right moment, we nudge the user to subscribe for an enhanced experience,” he noted.
Instead of rigidly defining the business model upfront, the approach has been to work backwards from the consumer, recognising their diverse states and expectations. “How do we put each of these pieces together? If we’re able to build habit, loyalty and scale consistently, monetisation will follow,” he added.
He further mentioned that the platform is actively exploring deeper levels of monetisation. According to him, the appetite among Indian consumers to pay for quality products and services has always existed.
Subscription unlocks a wide range of offerings, multiple content categories, multi-device access, 4K experience, downloads, and more.
“There’s a lot we can deliver through it. However, we believe great storytelling and entertainment shouldn’t be locked behind a paywall alone or require a subscription as a prerequisite. That approach doesn’t prioritise consumer trust. Our philosophy is, come one, come all. Based on individual needs, we offer a very aggressive enterprise subscription proposition. But that’s not where we begin,” he added.
On being asked about the significance of IPL for the network and how they plan to grow beyond it, Sreeram broke it down into a few key parts. “IPL is in its 18th year, and by now, one would assume it has settled into a steady state in terms of viewership and engagement. But this year, we’re only halfway through the season, and just on digital, we’ve already seen a 40% growth in viewership,” he said.
Highlighting their approach, he noted that the network now programs IPL across multiple languages and offers immersive experiences through features like hero cams, multi-angle viewing, and VR 360.
Moving beyond IPL, he said the focus is on several fronts. “We love live sports across formats. Earlier this year, we had the Champions Trophy. Now, it’s IPL, followed by other sports like the Premier League, Wimbledon, and domestic leagues,” he explained.
He added that while IPL remains a key property, their strategy is to reimagine it, as they’ve done this year, and simultaneously build on a broader sports portfolio.
Beyond sports, the network also leverages its extensive programming lineup. “We have content from over 100 network TV channels on the platform. Collectively, these channels account for nearly 34% of broadcast viewership, and we’re able to bring all of that to the platform,” he said.
On the international front, he pointed out that the platform hosts the largest selection of Hollywood and international content in the country. “We’re probably the only platform, potentially even globally, that has all the major studios together: Disney, Marvel, Warner Bros Discovery, HBO, Pixar, Paramount, and more, all in one place,” he said, calling it a compelling proposition that gives users the luxury of ‘not having to make a choice.’
He also noted their growing emphasis on live experiences beyond sports, such as concerts and spiritual events.
Furthermore, Sreeram went on to say that India’s entertainment landscape is far from saturated, with immense potential still ahead. While it’s not accurate to call it under-saturated, the growth runway remains long.
“Instead of breaking down the market into fragments- pay, ad-supported, free-to-air, premium- our approach has been to take a step back and view the opportunity holistically. The potential becomes evident when you consider data points. Clearly, the journey of India evolving into an entertainment powerhouse is not just beginning, it’s well underway and poised to gain momentum both domestically and globally,” he said.
“The key to unlocking this growth lies in creating immersive experiences and expanding access. In just under three months since launch, our platform has already amassed around 280 million subscribers, excluding a much larger audience that engages with the content via the feed. Cumulatively, the platform sees about half a billion users. This reflects the impact of building an integrated, seamless experience that encourages easy login, viewing, subscription, and an enhanced user journey, driving rapid and widespread adoption,” he added.
While addressing the evolving dynamics of content consumption, he said that their focus isn’t on chasing attention.
“We’re not quoting attention, we’re actually seeking to evoke emotions,” he emphasised.
He explained that the platform doesn’t treat time spent as its core currency. Although several metrics are tracked, the key question they constantly ask is that did we deliver enough value for the user to see compelling propositions that make them return?
“Our competition is every swipe, skip, scroll and every piece of engagement in the broader definition of what constitutes entertainment in the digital and broadcast ecosystem,” Sreeram noted.
The obsession, he added, lies in evaluating each emotional moment and interaction to see whether the platform has something meaningful to offer in that instance. Using personalisation as an example, he said they are completely re-tooling personalisation because a single individual’s persona shifts across the day, week, or month.
