iWorld
Amazon MX Player unveils 150-show slate for 2026
Free streamer doubles down on originals, reality and microdramas as it courts 250m monthly viewers
MUMBAI: Amazon MX Player is going big in 2026. India’s free streaming service, which claims more than 250m monthly viewers, has unveiled its largest content slate yet—over 150 new and returning titles spanning drama, action, thrillers, reality and its mobile-first microdrama format.
Leading the scripted lineup is Made In India: The Titan Story, a sweeping ambition-and-legacy drama starring Naseeruddin Shah and Jim Sarbh. Also headlining the slate is Sankalp, a socio-political thriller exploring power and leadership, featuring Nana Patekar, Sanjay Kapoor, Neeraj Kabi and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub.
The platform is stacking the deck with a mix of genres. Ab Hoga Hisaab, a justice-and-retribution thriller, stars Shaheer Sheikh, Mouni Roy and Sanjay Kapoor. Administrative drama The Bureaucrat features Amol Parashar, while action entertainer Kaptaan stars Saqib Saleem. The survival thriller Vimal Khanna features Sunny Hindhuja, cop drama Waiting Hai stars Divyenndu Sharma and Bhuvan Arora, and crime drama Clean Up Crew brings together Ravi Kishan, Amey Wagh and Vishal Jethwa.
The slate builds on the momentum of recent originals including courtroom drama Amar Vishwas, starring Rajeev Khandelwal, Aamir Ali, Ravi Behl and Barkha Bisht, and the romantic thriller Psycho Saiyaan featuring Tejasswi Prakash and Ravi Kishan, both of which drew strong audience engagement.
Reality programming remains a key pillar. Competition series Rise & Fall returns for a second season, while the fitness reality show Battleground also comes back for Season 2 with Shikhar Dhawan reprising his role as lead mentor. The platform recently wrapped Bharat Ke Super Founders, fronted by Suniel Shetty, which saw winning startups receive funding worth Rs100 crore ($10.8m).
Franchise favourites are also making a comeback. Crime saga Raktanchal returns for Season 3, alongside youth-focused titles Campus Beats Season 6, Campus Diaries Season 2, Heartbeats Season 2 and Who’s Your Gynac Season 2.
Karan Bedi, head of Amazon MX Player, said the platform is riding strong momentum as viewers gravitate towards free, premium streaming. “With our growing premium content slate and scale, we are uniquely positioned to drive the shift from linear television to streaming for millions of viewers across India.”
Amogh Dusad, head of content, said the focus is on building “a diverse and inclusive content ecosystem that reflects the many voices, cultures and experiences of audiences across the country.”
Beyond long-form shows, the platform is doubling down on MX Fatafat, its mobile-first microdrama vertical designed for short, snackable storytelling. It is also expanding MX Vdesi, its library of localised international content from Korea, China and Turkey, alongside a curated anime slate available in Japanese and Hindi.
Girish Prabhu, head of Amazon Ads India, framed the strategy in commercial terms. With a reach of 250m users, he said, brands can connect with audiences through content “powered by shopping and streaming signals” that generate measurable outcomes.
All titles will stream free on Amazon MX Player across mobile devices, connected TVs, the Amazon shopping app, Prime Video, Fire TV, Jio TV and Airtel Xtreme.
The message is clear: as India’s streaming wars intensify, Amazon MX Player is betting big on scale, speed and free access—flooding the zone with content and inviting millions of viewers to press play.
MUMBAI: If cricket were a binge-worthy series, this one just dropped its most explosive pilot yet. The opening weekend of the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League has come out swinging, smashing records across both television and digital platforms and reaffirming the tournament’s unmatched pull in India’s sporting and media landscape.
Backed by two high-octane matches featuring 200-plus run chases, the tournament delivered a combined reach of over 515 million viewers across linear TV and digital platforms via JioStar’s broadcast ecosystem, including Star Sports and JioHotstar. More tellingly, engagement surged alongside reach, with total watch-time hitting 32.6 billion minutes, a sharp 26 per cent jump over the opening weekend of the previous season.
The numbers reveal a deeper shift in how India watches cricket. Connected TV (CTV) consumption rose by 30 per cent, while peak concurrency on digital platforms jumped 61 per cent, signalling a growing appetite for shared, big-screen streaming experiences. On traditional television, the momentum held strong, with TV ratings (TVR) climbing 24 per cent compared to earlier seasons’ opening matches.
A key driver of this spike has been the evolution of the viewing experience itself. This season introduced differentiated feeds, most notably a Hindi CTV broadcast featuring cricketing voices such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan. Blending expert analysis with a watch-along format, the feed has added a conversational, almost second-screen feel without requiring viewers to leave their screens.
According to JioStar CEO for Sports Ishan Chatterjee, at the opening weekend underscores not just scale but also the depth of engagement that live cricket continues to command. He noted that the combination of large-screen viewing and digital interactivity is creating a more immersive and personalised experience, while also delivering tangible outcomes for brand partners.
From the league’s perspective, the early numbers point to a tournament that continues to reinvent itself. Arun Singh Dhumal, Chairman of the IPL, said the strong start reflects how high-quality cricket paired with enhanced viewing formats is resonating with audiences nationwide, while Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Devajit Saikia highlighted the “quality of engagement” as a key takeaway, not just the scale.
Commercially too, the opening weekend signals robust advertiser confidence. The broadcast is led by co-presenting sponsors including Google (Search AI Mode), Campa Energy, and Havells & Lloyd, alongside co-powered partners such as Birla Opus, Hero Motocorp and Amazon. A long tail of associate sponsors from OpenAI and Asian Paints to Flipkart and Amul further reflects the league’s unmatched ability to aggregate advertiser interest at scale.
Taken together, the opening weekend numbers are less a spike and more a statement. With 515 million viewers, 32.6 billion minutes of watch-time, and double-digit growth across formats, IPL 2026 has not just started strong, it has set the tone for a season that looks poised to push the boundaries of both sport and spectacle.
