HBO Max comes to India via exclusive JioHotstar deal | TechCrunch

Last day to exhibit your breakthrough to 10,000+ tech leaders at Disrupt is on Oct 2. Book Exhibit Table Now. Disrupt doors open Oct. 13. Get your pass and bring someone with you at 50% off. REGISTER NOW. Indian streaming service JioHotstar, owned by conglomerate Reliance Industries, said on Wednesday that it is expanding its partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery to bring HBO Max to India. HBO Max will be available to JioHotstar subscribers as an add-on starting at ₹49 (about $0.50) per month and would feature content from HBO, Max Originals, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Studios. The pricing is significantly lower than HBO Max’s stand-alone Basic tier in the U.S., which costs $10.99 per month. JioHotstar confirmed to TechCrunch that users’ existing subscription plans would affect the experience, indicating that lower-priced plans may include advertising. The streaming service starts at ₹79 (about $0.85) per month for mobile users with ads and goes up to ₹299 (about $3.2) per month for an ad-free premium plan. India’s streaming market has expanded rapidly, with total monthly active users (MAUs) reaching about 1.45 billion, thanks to affordable mobile data