Reliance Jio on Friday, 21 September, announced a five-year partnership with Star India to stream cricket matches featuring India.
Under the tie-up, JioTV and Hotstar users in India will be able to view all televised India-cricket matches, a Reliance Jio statement said. Along with international matches, the partnership would also cover the "premier domestic competitions of the BCCI", the statement adds.
Under this arrangement, Reliance users will be able to watch: T20, One Day internationals (ODI), test cricket and even the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, all governed under the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
It’s interesting that Star India (owns Hotstar) is giving long-term access to a platform, which is actually a direct competition. Having said that, with over 227 million users on its network (last reported), Reliance Jio being the third-largest telecom operator, allows them to add more subscribers (free or paid) to its platform.
This tie-up is similar to how the English Premier League (EPL) football matches are streamed on Hotstar, with access of footage from UK telecasters. Getting the IPL is also a big coup for Reliance Jio and with cricket being a popular sport in the country, availing this service for Jio users is an added bonus.
Jio TV already lets you stream matches via other TV channels on mobile. They had also streamed the Carabao Cup Final between Arsenal and Manchester City and even the FIFA 2018 World Cup earlier this year.
Jio users can sign into his/her account by using its 4G mobile data. For everyone else, they can create a profile and get access to its content.
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