JioStar Q2 results: Revenue sinks, but hit Hindi TV series reboot saves quarter

JioStar, the media and entertainment arm of Reliance Industries Ltd, saw a decline in revenue in the September quarter compared to the previous three months; This reflects the declining valuation of the Indian Premier League, for which it holds broadcast rights.

However, net profit increased on the back of other sports and digital properties, led by the reboot of popular Indian television series ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’.

JioStar’s second quarter revenue fell 35% compared to the previous quarter ₹Profit increased by 56% to Rs 7,232 crore ₹1,322 crore.

In the July-September quarter, JioStar reached over 830 million viewers and generated over 60 billion hours of viewing time on television, the company said on Friday. It was stated that video streaming platform JioHotstar reached an average of 400 million monthly active users during the quarter.

Valuation of India’s most-watched sports tournament IPL drops 8 percent ₹76,100 crore this year, according to a recent report by consultancy firm D&P Advisory. Cricket tournament reaches its highest value ₹92,500 in 2023.

Valuation of Women’s Premier League falls 5.6 percent ₹1,275 crore, according to the report.

Digital subscriptions continue to grow strongly, driven by programs like Special Ops2, Sarzameen and Heart Beat 2, JioStar said in a statement.

Beyond IPL and Big Boss

In February last year, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and The Walt Disney Co. formed a joint venture combining the businesses of Reliance’s partner company Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd and Disney’s Star India.

JioHotstar, the video streaming platform created by the merger of Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema earlier this year, has reached 100 million paid subscribers, the company said.

Industry experts said the Reliance-Disney streaming unit is three to four times larger than its Netflix counterparts in terms of total program hours, but needs more than hit shows like IPL and Bigg Boss to succeed in the crowded video-on-demand subscription market.

“The combination of JioCinema and Hotstar has created a powerful platform that is poised to accelerate the expansion of India’s premium VoD market,” Mihir Shah, vice president of Media Partners Asia, an independent research and advisory firm, told Mint in an earlier interview. But “success will depend on their ability to innovate with diverse content formats, leverage interactive features to deepen audience engagement, and deliver a consistently high-quality experience across a broad user base.”

JioStar said Bigg Boss shows across Hindi, Malayalam and Telugu recorded a 55% year-on-year increase in viewing time.