Reliance Industries has announced its media acquisition of The Walt Disney Company and launched a new digital site called JioStar.com to meet the needs of the Indian audience. Although this is not a full-fledged streaming service as yet, JioStar.com offers several subscription channel packs which include both HD and SD content at rates starting from INR 15 a month.
Affordable Plans for Every Audience
Focused on affordability, JioStar seeks to provide the regional content in all possible Indian languages. Including these multi-language packages, it provides channel packs in Hindi, Oriya, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, and Marathi so that people can watch what they like.
JioStar Hindi Channel Packs
For Hindi-speaking audiences, JioStar offers multiple tiered options:
- The Star Value Pack Hindi cost Rs 59/month and provides 16 SD channels.
- Star Premium Pack Hindi for the most exclusive figures has 23 SD channels and is priced at Rs 105/month.
- For HD offerings, Star Value Pack Lite HD Hindi has 7 HD channels priced at Rs 88 per month while the Star Premium Pack Lite HD
- Hindi priced at Rs 125 per month provides 22 channels out of which 14 are in HD.
Regional Packs Catering to Diverse Audiences
JioStar also offers a wide array of regional language packs to cater to local tastes.
- Odia: Rs 15/month for 17 SD channels with HD channels priced at Rs 65 for 8 channels.
- Bengali: The Star Value Pack Bengali starts at Rs 65 for 17 SD channels with a premium version of Rs 110 for 24 channels including 16
- HD channels. Kannada: Rs 45/month Star Value Pack Kannada offering 9 SD channels plus Rs 67/month for HD packs. Telugu: Rs
- 81/month Star Value Pack Telugu consisting of 11 SD channels while the premium HD version 15 channels of which 10 are HD costs Rs 125.
Malayalam and Tamil Content
For Malayalam speakers, JioStar offers both standard and HD options:
The Star Value Pack Malayalam will cost you Rs 57/month and it will come with 10 SD channels. The HD version will cost you Rs 77. For Tamil viewers, they can select the Star Value Pack Tamil at the price of Rs 59 a month which has 10 SD channels as Star Premium Pack HD Tamil has 15 channels offered at Rs 105 a month, with 11 being HD channels.
Kids’ Packs from Disney
In a nod to younger audiences, JioStar includes several kids’ packs:
The Disney Kids Pack is priced at 15 rupees per month and consists of 3 SD channels. The HD versions go for 18 rupees also 3 channels, with 1 being HD. Disney Hungama Kids Pack also provides value for money with a pack available at just 15 rupees per month for 4 SD channels.
A Game-Changer for Digital Content in India
With price points starting as low as just 15 rupees a month, JioStar is likely to appeal to a much wider audience making the service more or less ethnically diversed yet with all content of top quality bestowed in high definition formats. Although it is not a streaming service as of now, the bulk of the channel packs shows that a much more expansive digital media services shall be offered in the near future.
At present, it is anticipated that JioStar’s cost-effective strategies would alter the media environment because it will afford the users easy and economical access to regional and children content in various languages, thus reinforcing the position played by Reliance and Disney in the fast changing world of digital entertainment in India.
There are still loose ends regarding the specifics for the English language packs, however, based on the initial JioStar content, it appears that the target audience is rather broad and includes all age groups in order to provide quality content. Given that the expansion of plans is likely to happen in the future, the introduction of JioStar in the Indian market is a positive development in the digital space in the region.
