Indian Streamer JioHotstar Launches in U.K., Canada and Singapore With Interactive Features

India’s leading streamer JioHotstar has launched internationally in the U.K., Canada and Singapore, bringing its catalog of more than 160,000 hours of entertainment across more than 12 Asian languages alongside interactive features, personalized recommendations and new subscription options. The expansion moves beyond a straightforward catalog rollout, introducing audiences in the three markets to a redesigned discovery and viewing experience built around personalization and real-time engagement, according to the company. The service was previously available in the U.K., Canada and Singapore as Hotstar. JioHotstar arrives as an all-new app, carrying the content library and product experience of JioHotstar’s India platform. Popular on Variety Parent company JioStar is launching the platform with a new slate of originals, including “Ali Baba Aur Chaalis Bhoot,” “Prince of Mollywood,” “Part Timers” and “The Court,” alongside blockbuster movie premieres through the year. The immensely popular Indian Premier League cricket tournament and other cricket competitions JioStar owns the Indian rights for, will not be part of the launch package, Variety understands. Reality franchise “Bigg Boss” returns across six languages, and for the first time, viewers in Singapore, Canada and the U.K. can cast live votes throughout each edition. Viewers in Canada and the U.K. will also get access to a 24/7 live feed, while Canada will be able to watch “Bigg Boss Hindi” seven days ahead of its television broadcast. Actor Anil Kapoor hosts a new game show format, “India Ka Top 1 Percent,” which will be available to audiences in Canada and Singapore. JioHotstar is also bringing content from JioStar’s television channels, including “Star Plus,” “Colors,” “Star Vijay,” “Asianet,” “Star Jalsha” and “Star Pravah.” Viewers in Singapore and Canada will get Before-TV access to popular shows including “Anupama,” “Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai,” “Seher Hone Ko Hai” and “Azhagae Azhagu,” while U.K. audiences can watch popular shows simultaneously with their television broadcast. The new titles join JioHotstar’s existing library, which includes originals such as “Criminal Justice,” “Special Ops,” “Chiraiya,” “Pritam & Pedro,” “Asur,” “Aarya,” “Heartbeat,” “Vikram on Duty,” “Kerala Crime Files,” “Resort” and “Kaattaan”; reality franchises including “Koffee With Karan,” “Bhojpuri Bawaal,” “Khatron Ke Khiladi,” “MTV Hustle,” “Splitsvilla,” “Laughter Chefs – Unlimited Entertainment,” “Roadies” and “Cooku With Comali”; and films including “Vaazha,” “Dhurandhar,” “Chhichhore,” “Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh,” “Kill,” “12th Fail” and “Jab We Met.” JioHotstar is available on mobile and connected TV, with the app downloadable through the App Store and Google Play Store across all three markets. Android users in the U.K., Canada and Singapore can now complete sign-up entirely inside the app. For the first time, the company is offering a quarterly option in all three markets, giving subscribers a shorter commitment alongside its existing annual plans. Hotstar app users can download the new JioHotstar app and sign in with their existing Hotstar credentials, with their plan converting automatically to the matching JioHotstar tier. In the U.K., existing subscribers can keep their current monthly plans for as long as auto-renewal remains active. Updated pricing effective Sept. 2 is £19.99 ($27.20) per quarter and £69.99 ($95.20) annually in the U.K.; CAD19.99 ($14.50) per quarter and CAD49.99 ($36.30) annually in Canada; and SGD29.98 ($23.60) per quarter and SGD69.98 ($55.10) annually in Singapore. The platform also carries premium-quality subtitles and dubbing in more than 12 Asian languages, among them English, Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada and Marathi. “Streaming has spent the last decade competing on the size of its catalogue,” said Amit Malhotra, head – international business, JioStar. “We believe the bigger opportunity now is to reimagine how audiences experience entertainment; not just what they watch, but how they discover, engage with and shape the experience in real time. South Asian audiences have a deep connection with Indian entertainment across languages, generations and households. At the same time, audiences globally are increasingly seeking stories and cultures beyond their own. We see an opportunity to build for this broader, underserved global audience – not simply export an Indian streaming service to new markets.” “As we expand internationally, our ambition is to show what becomes possible when scale, language, cultural diversity, personalisation and deeper audience participation are built into the streaming experience from day one,” Malhotra added. JioStar says JioHotstar’s base of more than 500 million active users makes it one of the largest streaming platforms worldwide, pointing to features such as conversational voice discovery, AI-driven personalization and in-app commerce as part of its broader product strategy.