JioStar posts ₹580cr profit in Q1, led by IPL 2025
What's the story
JioStar, the joint venture between Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Walt Disney, has posted a net profit of over ₹580 crore for the quarter ending June. The company's financial performance was driven by strong revenue from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Despite challenges in the entertainment segment due to reduced FMCG advertising spends, JioStar managed to post impressive numbers with an EBITDA of ₹1,017 crore and operating revenue of ₹9,601 crore.
Revenue surge
IPL delivered highest revenue across TV, digital platforms
The IPL 2025 season delivered its highest-ever revenue across TV and digital platforms, according to RIL. JioStar holds both TV and digital rights for the IPL in India. The company offset the pressure on its TV entertainment segment with strong sports and subscription revenues. It also finalized subscription deals with all major distribution operators, which helped in better monetization and tighter cost controls.
Subscriber growth
JioStar adds 287 million subscribers
During the latest quarter, JioStar's streaming platform, JioHotstar, saw its subscriber base surge to 287 million during the IPL season. This was fueled by a hybrid advertising and subscription model with limited free access. On television, JioStar reached over 800 million viewers during the quarter. The company also expanded its presence in the Free-To-Air (FTA) Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) segment by relaunching Star Utsav and Colors Rishtey on DD Free Dish.
Viewership milestones
Reaching combined audience of 1.19 billion viewers
IPL 2025 was a watershed moment for JioStar, reaching a combined audience of 1.19 billion viewers. The platform garnered 652 million digital viewers, a 28% year-on-year (YoY) increase. The final match set a new digital record as the most-watched T20 match ever with 237 million viewers and a peak concurrency of 55.2 million, beating the previous record of 35.9 million.
Content expansion
Sports portfolio included ICC WTC final, 'Mufasa' was most-watched film
JioStar's sports portfolio also included marquee events like the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final. The network acquired exclusive digital streaming rights for India's five-Test series against England from Sony Pictures Networks India. JioHotstar recorded its highest-ever monthly entertainment watch time in June 2025. Internationally, Captain America: Brave New World was the second most-watched film of the quarter, while Mufasa: The Lion King became JioHotstar's most-watched international film ever on the platform.