Disney+ Hotstar has had over 500 million downloads while JioCinema has over 100 million downloads.

RIL-Star India merger, Disney Plus Hotstar and Jio cinema news: Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) is going to control the Star-Viacom18 merged entity once the regulatory checks are complete. It could shutter Disney Plus Hotstar and keep only JioCinema as the OTT app.

Following the RIL and Star India merger, RIL is reportedly considering combining the offerings of Disney Plus Hotstar with JioCinema and hosting them on the latter. If it is true, it would happen despite Disney Plus Hotstar having a higher number of downloads.

It is pertinent to mention that Disney Plus Hotstar is Walt Disney-owned Star India’s streaming service, while JioCinema is owned by Viacom 18. On Google Play Store, Disney+ Hotstar has had over 500 million downloads while JioCinema has over 100 million downloads.

A report cited a source as saying that having a single OTT platform will help in reducing costs and building a one-stop destination to compete with YouTube in the 'advertising video on demand' (AVOD) segment and Netflix and Prime Video in the subscription VOD segment.

If both these platforms come together, the combined catalog of Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema will comprise over 125,000 hours. Besides, it will also have cricket rights, including the Indian Premier League (IPL), as well as content from Disney, HBO, NBCUniversal and Paramount Global.

Notably, Disney Plus Hotstar had 35.5 million paid subscribers in June, a sharp drop from its 61 million subscribers at one point when it had content such as the IPL and HBO.