Entertainment

JioStar has reinforced its status as India's premier entertainment powerhouse, achieving unparalleled scale and cultural resonance across every major language and genre.

In the high-stakes Hindi GEC (Pay) segment, the network commanded a 48% market share, claiming 7 of the top 10 shows. A defining highlight was the return of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi - Season 2, which delivered record viewership and became the biggest fiction launch in five years across TV and Digital. The network continued to dominate high-impact reality programming, with Colors sweeping the top three non-fiction spots led by Laughter Chefs 3, Bigg Boss S19, and Pati Patni Aur Panga.

JioStar's regional footprint remains equally formidable, with market-leading positions in general entertainment genre across Marathi (54%), Malayalam (49%), Kannada (46%), Bangla (43%), Telugu (40%) and Tamil (34%). JioStar's Kids, English, and Youth portfolios retained their #1 position.

On the Digital front, JioHotstar continues to pioneer the future of streaming. Bigg Boss saw a staggering 40% growth in watch time across editions, while the platform's first AI-led show, Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh, garnered exceptional multi-language traction. With an extensive library of international content alongside their dubbed local language versions and acclaimed originals like Special Ops Season 2 and Criminal Justice: A Family Matter, JioStar remains the definitive destination where stories are consumed at scale.

Sports

JioStar remains India's premier Sports aggregator reaching a billion screens with over 250 days of live action. By merging cutting-edge technology with content innovation, JioStar has delivered a step-change in fan engagement and interactivity across mobile, connected TV, and linear platforms; delighting both consumers and advertisers.

IPL 2025 set the gold standard, with the Finals drawing 426 million viewers and achieving a digital record of 237 million live viewers for any T20 match. Notably, women now account for 47% of IPL viewership on Star Sports, highlighting cricket's expanding demographic appeal.

The Women's World Cup emerged as a cultural phenomenon with digital viewership growing by 10x as compared to the previous edition. The Final garnered 185 million viewers, matching the scale of marquee IPL fixtures and establishing women's cricket as a mainstream property.

T20 World Cup 2026 set a world-record 72.5 million peak concurrency, becoming one of the most-watched ever. IPL 2026 saw a record opening weekend reaching 515 million+ viewers across TV and digital, reinforcing the massive popularity of live cricket in India and JioStar's position as the home of cricket.

This momentum extends beyond cricket; strong growth in engagement across Wimbledon, US Open and Pro Kabaddi League reinforces JioStar as a year-round multi-Sports destination.

By setting new performance benchmarks, JioStar is deepening Sports fandom and reshaping how India watches and engages with the magic of Sports.

Digital Platform

During the year, JioHotstar solidified its reign as India's premier digital entertainment ecosystem, scaling to an average of a massive 451 million monthly active users. Engagement was consistent throughout the year, establishing JioHotstar as a default entertainment destination.

This year's, strategic mandate was improving monetisation and platform excellence. By overhauling platform discovery and personalisation, JioHotstar achieved superior recommendation accuracy and sharper audience targeting. These capabilities were reinforced by a strong and diversified content slate across entertainment, sports, and continued investments in AI across the value chain, including the launch of conversational discovery through a strategic partnership with OpenAI to redefine search and content discovery.

The platform also launched ‘Tadka', a micro-content hub with 100+ shows, and introduced integrated in-app commerce during IPL-26, enabling viewers to seamlessly order food while watching IPL, thereby turning passive viewers into active consumers.

Network18 fortified its leadership position as India's #1 news network. TV network achieved record viewership share of 14.1%. Digital portfolio maintained its leadership, reaching around 300 million people per month across platforms. The network also amplified its efforts to diversify into non-news segments, to build new growth levers for the future.

The network reinforced its leadership in national markets through its flagship channels - News18 India, CNN News18, and CNBC TV18, supported by strong content and brand equity. Its pan-India presence was further bolstered by clear leadership in key regional markets, including Marathi, Bengali, and Kannada.

Network18's digital news portfolio was India's leading online news publisher, driven by marquee brands like Moneycontrol, CNBCTV18, News18, and Firstpost. Moneycontrol Pro continued to be recognised as India's largest paid digital news subscription platform and Moneycontrol Super Pro, the premium subscription product, saw encouraging response from customers. Moneycontrol's fintech business grew substantially to establish itself as one of the leading digital-first service platforms. Firstpost continued to be India's top destination for global news, crossing 9 million subscribers on YouTube. Network18 also established a clear leadership in terms of reach and engagement on third party platforms, particularly YouTube.