JioHotstar and the Disruptive Advertisements in Mobile and Super Plans

Reliance Jio has played an important role in transforming India's internet and telecom landscape in the past decade, and has made internet access more affordable. In 2025, Reliance Industries collaborated with the Walt Disney Company and their Indian media assets to form JioHotstar. According to a report published in The Mint, Reliance Industries owns 60% stake in the new venture, while Disney Company retains 37% stake. 

Reliance Jio's history of introducing exciting offers, from free (and then low-cost) internet to free IPL streaming on JioCinema, has consistently benefited Indian users. With Reliance's involvement in the JioHotstar venture, it is expected that the subscribers will experience an enhanced and more affordable service.

We have been using Reliance Jio and Jio's OTT platform for a long time. We are also very excited with the JioHotstar venture. However, there is a potential issue that could negatively impact the overall user experience. In this blog post we will describe the specific hindrance.

Observations

JioHotstar has been using the same multi-tiered subscription model that Disney Hotstar used earlier. This subscription structure includes tiers like the Mobile Plan and Super Plan, and the higher-tier JioHotstar Premium. The Mobile and Super Plans are "ad-supported," meaning users will see frequent advertisements. To get rid of the advertisements, subscribers need to opt in for the Premium tier. This multi-tiered subscription model might be a standard business approach. However, the advertisements within the lower-tier JioHotstar subscriptions are diminishing the over-all user experience. Here are our observations—

1. Users prefer OTT content because those are mainly advertisement-free. The imposition of advertisements, even after purchasing a subscription, significantly damages the viewing experience.
2. Moreover, the sheer volume of advertisements is problematic. For instance, a 40-minute web series with four advertisement slots, each containing two 10–15 second advertisements, results in too much interruptions.
3. The advertisements are generally automatically placed at specific time intervals. During crucial scenes sudden advertisements damage the excitement of the scenes, and undermine the emotional impact.
4. The multi-tiered subscription approach may not resonate well with Indian viewers. This model also might not be in alignment with Reliance Jio's service pattern, which prioritises providing a seamless viewing experience for its users.
5. It is to be noted that currently a large number of advertisements are placeholders in nature and those show trailers or clippings available on the same platform.

Suggestions

Following the observations above, we offer the following suggestions. Please consider one, more, or all of the suggestions below—

1. Single, Unified option: We suggest to simplify the subscription model to a single, unified option. This could be priced between the current Super and Premium tiers. This would resolve the frustration of forced advertisements within a paid subscription.
2. Limit number of advertisements: If the current multi-tiered subscription model is continued, we urge a reduction in the frequency and duration of advertisements. Possibly there should not be more than 15 seconds of ads per 30 minutes of viewing. There could be models like "One advertisement break per web series" or "Two advertisement breaks per movie".
3. Placement of advertisements: Placement of advertisements is also important. Please ensure that the sudden advertisements do damage the excitement of crucial scenes. Possibly, reducing the number of advertisements will help here. This could also be achieved by strategising advertisement placement zones within the videos.
4. Benefits for Jio Users: The Jio mobile networks users might get some benefit. They are already paying for Jio mobile services. Possibly the ads-free option could be included in the basic plans for Jio users.
5. Rewards and User Engagement: Similar to JioRewards, please offer incentives and rewards, such as "Earn Ads-free minutes" where a user will be rewarded upon completion of tasks, or for their over-all engagement (daily login, shares, comments etc.).

   

   Too many ads, specially during crucial scenes  may damage user's experience

        Too many ads, specially during crucial scenes 

   may damage user's experience

Conclusion

Not just another OTT platform, JioHotstar definitely has potential to take the OTT experience in India to the next level. We anticipate the suggested tweaks will improve the experience of the users.