Viacom18 and NBCUniversal join hands

Popular shows like The Office; Downton Abbey; and Suits will soon be available on Reliance’s digital streaming venture, JioCinema. The streaming service said on Monday it has signed a multi-year partnership with NBCUniversal to bring thousands of hours of NBCU movies and TV shows to India.

The partnership follows Viacom18 bagging the streaming rights for HBO and other Warner Bros titles for the South-Asian market, snatching premium offerings that once attracted many to Disney’s Hotstar.

This partnership agreement is not universal, therefore, streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon Prime will continue to air these shows on their platforms as well. However, with this agreement, JioCinema has access to some of the most iconic and popular global titles that are indispensable to create an indispensable streaming brand that can compete with Netflix and Disney in India.

“This partnership significantly bolsters JioCinema’s programme offering, and ensures that their viewers will be able to enjoy titles from NBCU’s world-renowned content portfolio. That portfolio is fuelled by Comcast NBCUniversal’s powerhouse production entities and brands, which include Universal Television; UCP; Universal International Studios; Universal Television Alternative Studio; Sky Studios; DreamWorks Animation; Universal Pictures; Focus Features; Bravo; and more,” said the press release.

NBCU’s offering will be part of JioCinema’s subscription (SVOD) tier, JioCinema Premium. “NBCU’s programming will live in a Peacock-branded hub starting next month on JioCinema’s newly announced JioCinema Premium”SVOD tier. Peacock is NBCU’s streaming platform. The Indian audience will also have access to Peacock’s original programming as well. The Hindu BusinessLine