JioHotstar, Reliance Industries' streaming platform, posted operating revenue of Rs 31,048 crore for FY26, with EBITDA of Rs 4,885 crore at a 15.7% margin and profit before tax of Rs 3,228 crore. Monthly active users hit around 550 million in March 2026, placing it among the world's largest streaming platforms by user count.

Sports drove the growth

A packed sports calendar was the biggest engine behind the numbers. The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 peaked at 72.5 million simultaneous viewers. IPL 2026 opened with a record weekend and nearly 60% growth in peak concurrency compared to the prior year. Sports pull large, engaged audiences quickly, which in turn attracts advertisers and converts casual viewers into paying subscribers.

Entertainment content also held its own. Digital watch time in the entertainment segment grew 35% year-on-year in Q4 FY26, driven by shows, films, and regional content. The platform has crossed 1 billion downloads and is now accessible on 99% of connected TV devices, giving it near-universal distribution across smart TVs in India.

Monetisation is shifting toward digital ads

Digital advertising emerged as the clearest monetisation bright spot. Rising connected TV adoption, improved ad targeting, and a wider advertiser base all contributed. Traditional TV advertising, however, stayed under pressure, with FMCG companies — typically the biggest TV ad spenders — pulling back on spending.

On a quarterly basis, Q4 FY26 revenue came in at Rs 8,372 crore, up 21.4% from Q3 FY26, with profit before tax of Rs 421 crore. The sequential jump signals that the platform is building momentum heading into FY27, particularly with IPL still running.

Reliance has layered in several product moves to deepen usage. Tadka, a micro-content hub, now carries over 100 short-form shows. A partnership with OpenAI enables conversational content discovery inside the app. JioHotstar has also integrated in-app commerce with Swiggy, which could open a new revenue stream beyond advertising and subscriptions.

The combination of scale, a dominant sports rights portfolio, and improving digital ad infrastructure puts JioHotstar in a strong position against global rivals like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The key risk to watch is whether digital ad growth can fully offset continued weakness in linear TV advertising, and whether the platform can hold subscribers between major sports events.