Voot-JioCinema merger nears completion

Viacom18 is in the final stages of completing the merger of Voot Select with JioCinema. Select users are receiving promo codes for free JioCinema Premium subscriptions.

JioCinema’s merger with Voot has been on the cards for months. businessline had reported earlier that the merger of the two OTT platforms would happen before IPL 2023; subsequently, reports emerged that the merger will happen after IPL 2023.

This comes after Viacom18 made a concerted effort to consolidate its content under the JioCinema banner. Acquisition for new titles such as HBO, and NBC properties happened for JioCinema.

For the longest time, Voot was the go-to OTT platform for Viacom. With this merger, Voot will cease to operate. While the exact date of the merger is unknown, it appears that Voot Select users are already being made aware of the move and even receiving promo codes for free JioCinema Premium memberships.

According to experts, the merger will strengthen Jio Cinema’s portfolio and subscriber base which will help it to take on Disney Hotstar and SonyLiv.

Jio has built a streaming service across content type -TV shows, movies & music (JioCinema, JioTV, JioSaavn). It has a large content library across content types- JioTV (575+ TV channels), JioCinema (10,000+ movies), JioSaavn (80 Mn music tracks) ahead of competition,” said a report from Bernstein.

Jio Cinema was the share gainer in the last quarter, expanding monthly share in downloads from 0% in Jan-23 to 19% in Apr-23(start of the IPL season). Disney+Hotstar downloads share declined from 32% to 27% during the same period. Hotstar has lost ~8.4 Mn subscribers since October last year, when it lost the rights to IPL. Hosting platforms experience higher MAUs and downloads during IPL seasons and other cricket tournaments, users for cricket is “on the go” audience. However, JioCinema has increased MAU share post IPL, through strong content releases and has a robust pipeline of 100 titles planned for the year, to capitalize on its IPL succes, the Bernstein report said. The Hindu BusinessLine