1 week Ago
JioStar, the joint venture between Reliance Jio and Disney’s Hotstar, has laid out a bold plan—streaming the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) to one billion viewers. After the massive success of the previous season, this new move aims to take sports streaming in India to the next level. IPL 2025 is already breaking records on JioHotstar and the Star Sports Network .
Within days, it recorded an astounding 4,956 crore minutes of viewing time, setting a new benchmark for sports viewing. The tournament's popularity continues to increase, guaranteeing its position as India's largest sporting event. On the digital front, JioHotstar registered a 40% increase in viewership in the first three matches of the season over last season.
What's driving this? An enormous 54% increase in Connected TV (CTV) viewing, indicating that more are watching on large screens in the living room than just on smartphones. TV is not lagging behind either. Star Sports saw a 22% rise in television viewership, attracting more than 25.
3 crore viewers over the opening weekend. This combined digital and TV growth indicates the vast reach IPL now enjoys. In order to maintain the momentum and hit the one-billion-viewer mark, JioHotstar is introducing some clever strategies: Free Streaming with Recharges: Whoever is recharging their mobile pack for ₹299 or more, they get IPL access for free on JioHotstar.
It's a double whammy—more people for the platform, and more content for the viewers without spending extra money. Next-Level Streaming Features: The site provides 4K quality , multiple camera angles, 12 language options, and even AR/VR experiences . These features propelled the average watch time to 75 minutes per user last season from 60 minutes the previous season.
Free Broadband Tests: Jio is offering a 50-day test of its broadband offerings to get users into the habit of watching matches seamlessly without buffering. This is also a smart way of exposing more households to high-speed internet. JioCinema garnered 620 million viewers in the previous season—a 38% hike year over year.
On the very first day, 113 million watched it, and the season accumulated 2,600 crore video views and 35,000 crore watch minutes. But though the figures are impressive, there are issues. The platform must scale seamlessly as more people join in, particularly in high-traffic matches.
Sustaining stream quality on multiple devices and speeds of internet is paramount. Then, there's the issue of balancing free access with sufficient ad income and premium content to make things profitable. JioHotstar's goals extend beyond the IPL .
The platform also broadcast the Paris 2024 Olympics , providing live and on-demand streaming of the international event. This action demonstrated that JioStar is not only interested in cricket—it's looking to be a destination site for all international sports. As more international and domestic events will be added down the line, the platform is working toward becoming a one-stop shop for Indian sports streaming.
As the IPL season rolls on, the statistics will tell us whether JioStar is indeed striking its target. But if an early taste of success is any indication, the platform is nicely on its path to transforming sports viewing in the country, one stream at a time..
