Hotstar reignites UK presence with new marketing rollout after JioStar acquisition
Hotstar has begun rolling out a significant marketing campaign in the UK, marking its first major promotional push since coming under the JioStar umbrella. The move signals a renewed commitment to expanding the platform’s international footprint after several years of limited visibility in the British market.
The service originally launched in the UK in 2018 under 21st Century Fox, making an early impression with competitive pricing and a strong catalogue drawn from the Star TV library. However, following the Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of Star TV and its digital assets, Hotstar’s UK presence was gradually deprioritised. While the platform in India was rebranded as Disney+ Hotstar, the UK version remained largely untouched, gaining sporadic traction during the COVID‑19 lockdowns despite minimal or no marketing activity.
In the years that followed, Hotstar’s UK service was left largely dormant. That has now changed. Under its new ownership, JioStar has begun taking its digital expansion more seriously, initiating a coordinated marketing, PR and influencer campaign designed to reintroduce Hotstar to British audiences. Although the platform is known as JioHotstar in India, it will continue to operate as Hotstar in the UK for now due to existing legal frameworks.
Despite the branding distinction, the UK catalogue is now fully up to date. Its biggest recent film title, ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’, has taken centre stage, and the platform’s fiction line‑up from both Star Plus and Colors is now available in full. For the first time, content from the sister channels of Star TV and Colors is also being rolled out to UK viewers, significantly broadening the offering.
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With a strengthened library and a clear international strategy emerging, industry observers suggest that Hotstar is finally receiving the investment required to compete directly with rivals such as ZEE5 and SonyLIV, as well as global streaming giants including Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, Paramount, Apple TV and Disney+.
Promotional activity has already begun, with Hotstar securing sponsorship placements on Utsav Plus, Utsav Gold and Utsav Bharat in the UK. Its UK Instagram page has also become more active, sharing regular video content and highlighting its pricing model to attract new subscribers.
While JioStar has not publicly detailed its long‑term plans, industry insiders believe a larger strategic push is imminent, one that could significantly reshape the South Asian streaming landscape in the UK.
