JioHotstar’s streaming of perhaps the single most popular sports phenomenon of India, the IPL, is looking to finally be put behind its paid subscription-based service and while it breaks the norm set by the service for the last two years, it certainly comes off as an obvious decision.
Their new offer, which requires customers to buy a new Jio sim with a plan or extend an existing plan of ₹299 or above, will allow a free subscription to JioHotstar to those choosing to avail of the plan. This plan which was originally limited till the 31st of March has been extended till the 15th of April and it is obvious that this extension of the offer is to retain as many audiences for as long as possible. With audiences deeply invested in the sports deep into the season, JioHotstar is sure to gain a large number of subscriptions when the offer eventually comes to a close. A lot of fans whose favourite teams qualify for subsequent rounds will purchase a subscription to JioHotstar which was not required as of now.
This is a classic Ambani strategy where he captures the market by offering free services until users are addicted.
After years of providing free streams of the highly demanded sports event, JioHotstar has finally begun taking subtle yet swift and obvious strides to lock the streaming of IPL behind its paywall. With its unarguable domination over the Indian streaming service scene which its exclusive streaming of IPL plays no minor part and the event garnering record-smashing views this year, JioHotstar’s new plans will come as no surprise