{"id":2322,"date":"2026-06-17T07:35:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T07:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2322"},"modified":"2026-06-17T07:35:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T07:35:48","slug":"jiostars-kevin-vaz-says-commerce-will-become-third-revenue-stream-as-indian-ad-market-faces-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2322","title":{"rendered":"JioStar\u2019s Kevin Vaz Says Commerce Will Become Third Revenue Stream as Indian Ad Market Faces Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tIndian streamer JioStar is building commerce into a third revenue stream alongside advertising and subscriptions, entertainment CEO Kevin Vaz said at APOS 2026 Tuesday, pointing to live integrations with food delivery platforms and branded movie premiere partnerships as early evidence of a shift he expects to accelerate as cyclical pressure bears down on the Indian ad market.<\/p>\n

Read more HBO Max Gets \u2018Fired Up!\u2019 With Taiwanese, Filipino and Indonesian Originals Slate (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tVaz told the audience that JioHotstar, India\u2019s leading streaming service, has surpassed 500 million monthly active users and 260 million paid subscriptions, and now counts more than one billion app downloads and full pin code coverage across India, offering consumers access to roughly 300,000 hours of content. JioStar\u2019s broader linear business operates 100 channels and reaches more than 85 million connected TV households.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe platform was created in three months after the merger of Viacom18 and The Walt Disney Company\u2019s India operations closed on Nov. 14, 2024 \u2013 a consolidation timeline Vaz described as unusually swift by global industry standards. \u201cWe are getting two highly successful companies together, each with their own technology, content, consumer base, and cultures, and bringing them together,\u201d Vaz said.<\/p>\n

\n\tVaz argued that scale should be measured not by the size of an audience but by the depth of the impact on that audience\u2019s lives. \u201cScale is defined as what is the impact you have on people\u2019s lives after you reach them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the question of how to categorize JioStar, Vaz positioned the company as a technology business first, with storytelling as its core driver rather than its defining identity. \u201cFor us, we see JioStar as a technology company that also delivers content. Storytelling will always be at the core of everything that we do. It drives engagement, it drives fandom, it drives cultural impact. But at the end of the day it requires technology to make sure how that storytelling is transmitted, how it\u2019s personalized, how it\u2019s experienced, and how you do this at scale,\u201d Vaz said. He cited a partnership with OpenAI among recent technology investments, alongside work on AI-driven content discoverability and short-form offerings.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Apocalypse Civilizations: Rome,\u2019 on the Battle of Actium Between Octavian and Mark Antony and Cleopatra, to France TV Distribution (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe short-form strand takes the form of Tadka, JioStar\u2019s microdrama service, which launched April 3 and was integrated into the existing JioHotstar app rather than offered as a separate product. In its first six to eight weeks, the service attracted some 100 million viewers. He described the decision to house microdrama content alongside long-form drama and films as a deliberate consumer experience choice, designed to let viewers move between vertical short-form content and full-length programming without leaving the platform.<\/p>\n

\n\tCommerce represents what Vaz called a third revenue stream for an industry that has historically depended only on advertising and subscriptions \u2013 and one he expects to grow in importance as advertising faces cyclical pressure. He pointed to a live integration with Swiggy during sports broadcasts that allowed viewers to order food while watching, and a tie-up with clothing brand NewMe on one of the company\u2019s most-watched shows through which viewers could shop the looks worn by contestants on screen. A recent partnership with Samsung around the premiere of \u201cDhurandhar The Revenge\u201d on JioHotstar offered the Galaxy S26 through an exclusive promotion. \u201cThis is a strong example of how premium content can deliver meaningful impact for brands and marks an important milestone for us,\u201d Vaz said.<\/p>\n

\n\tAsked where entertainment is headed over the next five years, Vaz acknowledged the difficulty of prediction in a period of rapid technological change. \u201cEntertainment will change from being a passive consumption to being a much more active, involved consumer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tVaz was in conversation with Vivek Couto, executive director of Media Partners Asia, which produces APOS. <\/p>\n

Read more Fahadh Faasil to Star in Two Malayalam Films for India\u2019s Panorama Studios and Producer Jacob Babu (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JioStar entertainment CEO Kevin Vaz says commerce will join ads and subscriptions as a key revenue stream at APOS conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[1493,667,1979,1602],"class_list":["post-2322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tv","tag-apos","tag-jiostar","tag-kevin-vaz","tag-tadka"],"yoast_head":"\nJioStar\u2019s Kevin Vaz Says Commerce Will Become Third Revenue Stream as Indian Ad Market Faces Pressure - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2322\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JioStar\u2019s Kevin Vaz Says Commerce Will Become Third Revenue Stream as Indian Ad Market Faces Pressure - 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