iWorld
Hotstar breaks norm, introduces CinePlay
MUMBAI: Hotstar, India’s leading streaming platform today announced that it is expanding its Premium Service and offering a new storytelling format, CinePlay, under its Originals banner. Hotstar Originals’ CinePlay will showcase classics and contemporary stories from the theatre world presented in a cinematic fashion. Each CinePlay will bring together the work of leading playwrights, internationally renowned directors and the best of the actors from both the theatre and cinema worlds.
Available exclusively in India for Hotstar’s premium subscribers, 20 CinePlay titles will release regularly on the platform, starting with 5 titles being released on 13 February.
The announcement comes close on the heels of the partnership with Disney that Hotstar announced last month. With that announcement, Hotstar Premium had put together a portfolio of American TV shows and movies from three of the best studios in the world: Disney, Fox and HBO.
The introduction of CinePlay to the Premium service represents another big jump for the platform, which has already established stellar leadership in the highly competitive and fast evolving space of on-demand content. According to third party measurement company App Annie, Hotstar was the largest premium streaming platform in the month of January in India with more than 60 million users. Its watch time for the month was more than 12 times that of Amazon Prime Video and more than 20 times that of Netflix.
CinePlays will bring some of the most renowned stories from theatre from leading playwrights like Dr. Vijay Tendulkar, Badal Sircar, Mohan Rakesh, and Mahesh Dattani amongst others. The productions have been helmed by renowned directors such as Santosh Sivan and Nagesh Kukunoor. They will feature some of the most compelling actors of the theatre and film world including Nandita Das, Saurabh Shukla, Lillete Dubey, Swanand Kirkire, Namit Das, Darshan Jariwalla, Rajpal Yadav, Sonali Kulkarni and others.
“We love breaking norms,” said Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan. “We have never believed in the artificial separation between television and digital audiences. Our aspiration for Hotstar Originals has always been to introduce new formats and stories that are not being explored by anyone, irrespective of the screen. CinePlay is a big leap forward for storytellers and their audiences in the country. We are excited to bring an entirely new way of storytelling to a generation that has not been exposed to either these stories or to the power of theatre.”
“CinePlay is presenting a new visual language that blends the grammar of theatre and the power of cinema. We are excited to be exclusive partners with Hotstar in bringing these rich and relatable stories to every screen. With this collaboration, we hope to capture the imagination of the digital generation through an immersive cinematic experience of the theatre,” said CinePlay chairman and co-founder Subodh Maskara.
iWorld
T20 World Cup ’26: India–England semi-final sets global streaming record of 619 million views on JioHotstar
India–England semi-final records 65.2 million peak streams
MUMBAI: The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 set a new milestone in global sports streaming, as the India–England semi-final drew record digital audiences on JioHotstar.
The match on 5 March registered 65.2 million peak concurrent viewers, the highest ever recorded for a live event on any streaming platform worldwide. The semi-final also generated 619 million views, making it the most streamed T20 international match in history.
The landmark audience numbers were driven largely by viewers in India, setting a record achieved within a single market, rather than through aggregated viewership across multiple countries.
The high-scoring encounter between India national cricket team and England cricket team produced 499 runs across both innings, fuelling widespread fan engagement across platforms.
According to the International Cricket Council, the digital record surpassed the previous global benchmark of 65 million concurrent viewers, set in November 2024 by another international streaming platform.
Across television and digital platforms combined, the semi-final reached more than 320 million viewers, while total watch time exceeded 23 billion minutes, making it the most watched T20 international match ever.
“This World Cup demonstrates the immense passion of cricket fans and the progress made in bringing the game closer to audiences worldwide,” said ICC chairman Jay Shah.
“This moment reflects the scale of cricket fandom in India and the technological capability required to serve hundreds of millions of viewers simultaneously.”
JioStar vice-chairman Uday Shankar, said the audience surge underscored the future of large-scale digital entertainment.
“One in every three Indians tuned in to watch the second semi-final. Delivering such an experience at scale requires the very best of technology,” he said.
The 619 million views during the match also eclipsed the 533 million views recorded during the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
With the final yet to be played, the 2026 tournament has already set multiple benchmarks in audience reach and digital engagement.
India will face the New Zealand national cricket team in the final on 8 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The match will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and streamed on JioHotstar.
