Kevin Vaz breaks down how JioStar plans to keep the momentum going post-IPL

New Delhi: JioStar, Reliance Industries’ integrated media venture, posted its strongest quarter on Friday, July 18, propelled by record-breaking IPL viewership, soaring digital engagement, and a growing base of paid subscribers. 

But even as the cricketing high subsides, the platform is preparing to sustain momentum with a slate of entertainment releases, an expanding connected TV footprint, and a hybrid monetisation strategy that is already delivering results.

This is our first big quarter, and it’s not just the most important; it's also the biggest,” said Kevin Vaz, CEO of Entertainment Business at JioStar, during Reliance’s Q1 FY26 earnings call. “What we do this quarter sets the pace for the entire year.”

With the IPL season concluded, JioStar is banking on its entertainment pipeline to keep users engaged. “This quarter has got some of the biggest shows coming to the platform,” Vaz said. 

These include ‘Bigg Boss’ across five to six languages, the thriller series ‘Special Ops’, and the theatrical-to-digital release ‘Jolly LLB 3’ and Kajol starrer ‘Trial’.

JioStar’s biggest gamble this quarter may be the reboot of a legacy show, ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’, set to go live on July 29 on JioHotstar and Star Plus. “A show that launched 25 years ago and changed television viewing in this country; we think this show will redefine viewing habits once again,” Vaz said.

Meanwhile, titles like ‘Criminal Justice 2025’, ‘Kesari 2’, and Disney’s ‘Mufasa’ have already broken records on the platform. Regional content in Tamil and Malayalam has also outperformed, reflecting JioStar’s pan-India strategy, stated Vaz.

Vaz highlighted that IPL 2025 drew 652 million digital viewers and 537 million on TV, delivering a cumulative watch time of nearly a billion minutes. He shared during the call that the opening weekend alone saw 1.4 billion digital views, and the finale became the most-watched T20 match in history, surpassing the India World Cup final, with a peak concurrency of 55 million users.

On television, JioStar delivered a 7.44 TVR for the opening weekend of IPL, a 39% year-on-year increase, while the IPL final reached 189 million viewers, up 12% from the previous record, said Vaz, highlighting the power of TV.

Vaz attributed these gains to the synergy between TV and digital, noting, “This was the first time both digital and TV came together under one roof, and the outcomes speak for themselves.”

A major driver of this performance was the growth in connected TV (CTV) consumption, which Vaz highlighted. “We had 6.4 billion hours of watch time, which is a 49% growth in CTV and 29% growth year-on-year. The live video viewers were 652 million, with a 64% growth in CTV and a 28% growth year-on-year.”

Vaz went on to share that the IPL surge also translated to robust subscription growth. JioStar now has 287 million paid digital subscribers, nearly matching Netflix’s global subscriber base of 300 million, but achieved within India alone. The platform also recorded 460 million average monthly active users for the quarter.

JioStar’s edge, according to Vaz, lies in its AVOD–SVOD hybrid model. “Every piece of content on the platform was available to all consumers for four hours free, and after they hit the four hours is when it went into pay mode,” he explained. “We believe if you give people to consume, loyalty will help you build subscribers… once people are used to it on the channel, they are more willing to come and pay.”

In the linear TV space, JioStar continues to expand aggressively. The launch of Star Utsav in free-to-air markets saw it become the No. 1 FTA channel from week one, and the network now leads in 9 of the top 10 markets, consistently placing seven of the top 10 shows. “For the first time, we have seen strong subscription sign-ups across all operators in the country, driven by the power of the network,” Vaz said.

Despite the strong performance, entertainment advertising saw some headwinds. “We have seen some hit on our revenues on entertainment due to softness in the FMCG sector over the last two quarters,” Vaz admitted. “But things seem to be pulling back, and we are hopeful that with the festive season coming up, we will have stronger numbers.”

Monetisation was led by IPL and further aided by tighter cost control and stronger subscription performance across TV and digital.

While IPL was the ignition switch, JioStar’s long-term strategy is now playing out in scale, innovation, and content depth. As Vaz put it, “This was our biggest quarter, but with what’s coming next, we believe we’re just getting started.”