JioHotstar Nears Netflix as JioStar Hires Debasmita Ghosh and Bets $444 Million on South Indian Content

New Delhi/Mumbai, December 9, 2025 — India’s streaming war has entered a new phase. JioStar, the Reliance–Disney joint venture behind JioHotstar, has appointed seasoned digital media leader Debasmita Ghosh as Vice President – Agency Business, just as JioHotstar closes in on Netflix’s global subscriber tally and unveils an aggressive, $444 million push into South Indian content. ^[1]

Together, these moves signal that JioStar isn’t just building India’s biggest OTT platform — it’s aiming to reshape the global streaming order from the ground up.

Who Is Debasmita Ghosh — and Why This Hire Matters

According to people-spotting reports from afaqs!, Indian Broadcasting World and leadership tracker CXO Lanes, Debasmita Ghosh joins JioStar/JioHotstar as Vice President – Agency Business (also described as VP – Agency Relations), based in Bengaluru. ^[2]

She moves from Disney+ Hotstar, where for the last two years she served as Director and Head of Agency Relations, leading revenue-focused sales teams, managing CXO-level partnerships, and driving growth across large enterprise agencies as well as 500+ mid-tier and SMB partners. ^[3]

Before Disney+ Hotstar, Ghosh held senior roles at:

ShareChat and Moj – overseeing vertical monetisation across e-commerce, social tech, food tech and travel tech during India’s short‑video boom. ^[4]
Twitter India (via Httpool) – as Account Director & South Lead, working with top advertisers and agencies on platform strategy. ^[5]
Vyoma Technologies, Times Internet, Network18 Digital and India Today – across corporate sales, sponsorships, strategic partnerships and revenue planning. ^[6]

CXO Lanes describes her as a “digital sales leader” with two decades of experience, known for building high-performing revenue teams and managing large agency ecosystems across OTT, CTV and mobile. ^[7]

In simple terms: JioStar has hired someone who understands how to monetise massive digital audiences through agencies, at precisely the moment when Indian brands are shifting significant TV budgets into CTV and streaming.

For JioHotstar — a platform with hundreds of millions of users, significant free inventory and sophisticated ad products — success now depends as much on agency relationships as on content or technology. Ghosh’s role is to make sure media agencies see JioHotstar as the default home for big-brand campaigns in India’s OTT-first future.

From Hotstar to JioHotstar: Inside JioStar’s Mega-Platform

To understand the timing of this appointment, you have to look at what JioStar has built in 2025.

JioStar is the media behemoth created from the merger of Viacom18 and Disney Star. Its TV network and streaming platforms together reach more than 750 million viewers every week, making it one of the world’s most influential content engines. ^[8]

On February 14, 2025, JioStar officially launched JioHotstar, combining JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar into a single super-app for sports and entertainment. The company’s own launch note says JioHotstar offers: ^[9]

Close to 3 lakh hours of entertainment
“Unparalleled” live sports, including ICC events, IPL, WPL, Premier League, Wimbledon, Pro Kabaddi and ISL
Streaming in 19+ languages and a promise of “Infinite Possibilities”
A large, mostly India-based user base of more than 50 crore (500 million) users at launch

The strategy is clear:

Own tentpole sports (especially cricket) to guarantee reach and frequency.
Bundle Hollywood + Indian content – including Disney, NBCUniversal/Peacock, Warner Bros Discovery’s HBO, and Paramount, all in one app. ^[10]
Layer AI and product innovation on top – with features like personalised recommendations, multi-angle sports views and creator-led formats such as “Sparks”. ^[11]

This is not a traditional SVOD service; JioHotstar is built as a mass-market, ad-plus-subscription ecosystem designed for a billion screens.

The Subscriber Explosion: 50 Million to 300 Million to 600 Million

The sheer speed of JioHotstar’s growth is what has stunned the global streaming industry.

A mid‑2025 analysis from Think With Niche reports that JioHotstar’s subscriber base jumped from around 50 million in February to 280 million in May and 300 million by June 2025, powered largely by the Tata IPL 2025 season. ^[12]

That same piece notes some eye-popping IPL 2025 numbers on the JioHotstar plus TV network combo: ^[13]

652 million digital viewers vs 537 million TV viewers
1.19 billion total reach across TV and digital
425 advertisers from 40 categories, including 270 first-time TV or big-sports advertisers
Over 1.04 billion app downloads on Android alone

By August 29, 2025, Moneycontrol reported that JioHotstar had crossed 600 million users within three months of launch, with around 300 million paying subscribers, making it the world’s second-largest streaming service — all within India. ^[14]

Key data from that report:

75+ million connected TVs on the platform
About 300 million paying subscribers, and 34% share of India’s TV market
A content library of over 3.2 lakh hours, with ~30,000 new hours added every year
New AI features:
- Riya, a voice-enabled search assistant
- Voice Print, using AI voice cloning and lip-sync so viewers can watch content in their own language
- JioLenZ, a feature that lets users explore multiple viewing options with a single click ^[15]

Entertainment portal TrackTollywood echoed this trajectory days ago, framing the story in competitive terms: Jio Hotstar (their spelling) has around 300 million subscribers, “all set to overtake Netflix” in subscriber count thanks to lower pricing and a strong line-up of sports and big-ticket films. ^[16]

Different outlets are clearly using slightly different definitions of “users” vs “subscribers,” but even conservative readings converge on one point: JioHotstar has already achieved global-scale subscriber numbers from a single country.

The $444 Million Bet on South India

On December 9, 2025, Reuters reported that JioHotstar will invest 40 billion rupees (~$444 million) over the next five years to acquire and produce content from South India. ^[17]

Krishnan Kutty, Head of Entertainment for Southern India at JioStar, outlined the plan:

Focus on Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam content — across series, films (mainly post‑theatrical) and non-scripted formats.
Leverage the insight that consumers in southern states spend about 70% more time on JioHotstar than the average viewer.
Use ultra-affordable pricing, with plans starting at ₹50 per month, to deepen penetration. ^[18]

Reuters also notes that JioHotstar already has more than 200 million subscribers and explicitly aims to more than double that number over time, fueled by regional and influencer-driven content. ^[19]

Importantly, the company says it will continue its content partnership with Warner Bros Discovery until the end of the current deal, even as Netflix pushes a $72 billion takeover of Warner’s studio and streaming assets and Paramount Skydance mounts a rival hostile bid. ^[20]

For agencies and brands, that means JioHotstar will:

Deepen its dominance in the fastest‑growing content segment (South Indian cinema and series).
Retain premium Hollywood pipelines, including HBO and Warner titles, despite the turbulence around Warner Bros Discovery. ^[21]

JioHotstar vs Netflix: A Tale of Two Giants

So is JioHotstar really “overtaking” Netflix?

By traditional global metrics, Netflix is still number one. A Reuters factbox on the ongoing Warner Bros bidding war notes that Netflix ended 2024 with about 301.6 million total subscribers and around $39 billion in annual revenue, driven by global hits and a mix of subscription plans with growing ad tiers. ^[22]

But JioHotstar is now within touching distance in raw subscriber count — and possibly ahead if you compare Netflix’s global total with JioHotstar’s combined paying and free user base in India:

Netflix: ~301–302 million global subscribers across 190+ countries. ^[23]
JioHotstar: ~300 million paying subscribers and 600 million total users, all in India, as of late August 2025. ^[24]

The strategic differences are stark:

1. ARPU vs Scale

Netflix optimises for high ARPU across developed markets, with relatively premium pricing and a heavy focus on original content that travels globally. ^[25]
JioHotstar optimises for sheer scale, ultra-low prices (starting ~₹50/month and premium plans from ₹149 per quarter), and a wide mix of free and paid content layered with advertising. ^[26]

2. Content Positioning

Netflix leans on Hollywood, international originals and high-production-value global series and films. ^[27]
JioHotstar combines:
- India’s biggest sports properties (IPL, ICC events, WPL, grassroots and domestic leagues)
- A pan-India TV universe across languages
- A Hollywood bundle that includes Disney, NBCUniversal/Peacock, Warner Bros Discovery HBO, and Paramount content on one platform — a combination nearly unheard of globally. ^[28]

3. Local vs Global Footprint

Netflix is a global streamer trying to crack India with local originals and pricing tweaks.
JioHotstar is an India-first giant whose India-only subscriber base now rivals Netflix’s worldwide footprint — and JioStar has hinted at ambitions to “expand across platforms and geographies” in the future. ^[29]

In that sense, TrackTollywood’s claim that Jio Hotstar is set to “overtake Netflix” is directionally right for headline drama, but the more nuanced reality is:

Netflix still leads on global revenue and premium positioning, while JioHotstar leads on volume and domestic dominance — and is rapidly closing the psychological gap in subscriber numbers. ^[30]

Why Agency Leadership Is Now Central to JioStar’s Strategy

JioHotstar has three big levers for monetisation:

Ads on free content (including large parts of sports coverage and popular shows).
Subscription revenue from 300 million‑plus paying users. ^[31]
Integrated brand solutions — branded content, interactive formats, creator collaborations (“Sparks”), and sponsorships around marquee sports and entertainment properties. ^[32]

To unlock all of that, it needs agency champions who will take JioHotstar into every media plan — from auto and FMCG giants to D2C brands in Tier‑3 towns.

This is exactly where Debasmita Ghosh’s background matters:

At Disney+ Hotstar, she led agency relations and revenue strategy, shaping how the platform positioned its digital, impact and content-led offerings to agencies across 500+ partners. ^[33]
At ShareChat and Moj, she managed monetisation during the critical phase when language-first short video exploded, giving her deep familiarity with regional advertisers and performance-driven campaigns. ^[34]
At Twitter India, she handled key advertisers and consulted agencies on platform strategies, especially around live events and conversational campaigns. ^[35]

Now, plug that experience into the IPL numbers: over 425 advertisers on the 2025 season, including 270 new advertisers, and record monetisation across both advertising and subscription. ^[36]

Ghosh’s mandate will likely include:

Packaging sports + entertainment + creators into cohesive solutions for agencies.
Helping brands use new AI-driven tools such as Riya, Voice Print and JioLenZ to create more personalised, multi-language campaigns at scale. ^[37]
Driving growth across not just mega national advertisers but also mid-market and SMB agencies in Bharat, where Jio’s telecom dominance gives it unmatched reach.

If JioHotstar is JioStar’s engine of scale, the Agency Business function is its monetisation nerve centre — and Ghosh now sits at the heart of it.

The South India Play: Beyond Language, Toward Loyalty

JioHotstar’s new ₹40 billion South India content plan is not just about commissioning more Tamil or Telugu shows. It’s a strategic moat around three realities: ^[38]

South Indian cinema and TV are now pan-India and global: Recent years have seen Telugu and Tamil blockbusters outperform many Bollywood titles in both India and overseas markets.
Southern audiences are power users: JioHotstar’s own data shows South Indian viewers spend around 70% more time on the platform than the average user. ^[39]
Regional languages drive stickiness and household adoption: IPL 2025 saw the highest viewership growth in Telugu (+87%), followed by Kannada (+65%) and Tamil (+52%), while Hindi grew more slowly. ^[40]

By funnelling nearly half a billion dollars into the South over five years, JioHotstar is:

Turning South India into a defensive fortress against rivals like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, who are also chasing regional hits. ^[41]
Ensuring that its most engaged users get a steady stream of new series, movies and non-fiction formats that justify both subscription renewals and ad premiums.
Giving agencies more language- and region-specific inventory for hyper-targeted campaigns — again, directly aligned with what an agency-focused leader like Ghosh can help monetise.

Netflix’s Next Move — and What It Means for India

While JioHotstar is building dominance in India, Netflix is playing a very different game: consolidation of premium IP and global scale.

In the last week alone:

Netflix agreed to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s studio and streaming assets for $72 billion, potentially merging HBO Max and other Warner brands into its ecosystem. ^[42]
Paramount Skydance responded with a hostile $108.4 billion bid for Warner Bros, arguing it faces fewer regulatory obstacles than Netflix. ^[43]
U.S. President Donald Trump publicly indicated he would “have a say” in whether the Netflix–Warner Bros merger should proceed, signalling serious antitrust scrutiny. ^[44]

If Netflix does succeed in absorbing Warner’s IP, it will become an even more formidable global content powerhouse — but JioHotstar will still retain access to Warner content in India through its existing licensing agreement, at least until that contract expires. ^[45]

That creates an unusual scenario:

Netflix could own Warner’s IP globally,
But JioHotstar could still be the primary home for HBO and Warner content in India for several years, while also being Netflix’s fiercest subscriber rival in raw numbers.

It’s a reminder that OTT competition is increasingly market-by-market, and India is the one market where Netflix’s main rival is backed by both Disney and Reliance.

Outlook: What to Watch in 2026

Given the pace of change, any forecast comes with caveats — but a few trends look inevitable.

1. India Becomes the Epicentre of Streaming Scale

With 600 million users and 300 million paying subs in India alone, JioHotstar has proved that a single-country platform can rival global giants in scale. ^[46]

Expect:

More India-first product experiments (AI dubbing, interactive sports, creator-led formats) that might later get exported globally.
Global streamers benchmarking their own engagement and monetisation strategies against JioHotstar’s “high-volume, low-ARPU but ad-rich” model.

2. Agencies Shift Budget From Linear TV to CTV Faster Than Expected

The IPL 2025 data — with digital reach surpassing TV and record monetisation — suggests that big sporting events are already OTT‑dominated in terms of growth. ^[47]

Ghosh’s appointment is a strong signal that JioStar expects:

Bigger, more complex OTT media plans, combining free and paid inventory, sports and GEC, TV and mobile, and creator-led content.
A need for consultative selling to agencies, rather than simple GRP-based TV buys.

3. Regional and South Indian Content Will Decide the Next Winners

JioHotstar’s ₹40 billion South India commitment virtually guarantees an arms race for regional content among all major platforms. ^[48]

Whoever wins in regional genres — especially in Telugu and Tamil — will win:

The most engaged audiences
The deepest family and household penetration
The most defensible, non-commoditised ad inventory

4. Regulatory and Antitrust Scrutiny Could Reshape Global Deals

The Netflix–Warner Bros and Paramount–Warner bidding war, plus pointed comments from the White House, show that regulators are paying much closer attention to media consolidation. ^[49]

If deals are blocked or heavily conditioned, it could:

Slow Netflix’s global expansion of premium IP
Increase the value of regional alliances and joint ventures like JioStar
Prolong the window in which JioHotstar can leverage its unique mix of Hollywood and Indian rights

The Bottom Line

On December 9, 2025, three storylines converged:

JioStar hired Debasmita Ghosh to lead agency business at JioHotstar, adding a proven monetisation and partnership specialist to its top bench. ^[50]
JioHotstar doubled down on South India, announcing a $444 million content investment aimed at deepening engagement in the country’s most OTT-active regions. ^[51]
The platform’s scale — 300 million paying subscribers and 600 million total users — put it neck-and-neck with Netflix’s global subscriber base, all while Netflix pursues megadeals in Hollywood. ^[52]

Taken together, these moves make one thing clear:

The next chapter of the global streaming story will not be written only in Los Angeles — a big part of it is now being written in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru, on a platform called JioHotstar, and leaders like Debasmita Ghosh are going to be central characters in that story.