JioStar delivered double-digit revenue growth in the opening quarter of FY27, with the media and entertainment business benefiting from the commercial strength of the Indian Premier League (IPL), rising subscription income and continued expansion across its digital platforms. The company also reported a stronger operating performance, with core earnings growing at a significantly faster pace than revenue.
Revenue from operations increased 14% year-on-year to ₹10,946 crore (approx. US$1.13B) for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, while profit after tax (PAT) rose 14.5% to ₹665 crore (approx. US$69M). Gross revenue reached ₹12,799 crore (approx. US$1.33B), reflecting continued momentum across the business.
Operating performance outpaces revenue growth
JioStar‘s operating profitability strengthened during the quarter, with operating EBITDA rising 30.7% year-on-year to ₹933 crore (approx. US$96.7M) from ₹714 crore (approx. US$74M) in the corresponding period last year.
Operating EBITDA represented approximately 8.5% of revenue from operations, compared with around 7.4% a year earlier, highlighting an improvement in the company’s underlying operating margin despite continued investment across its media businesses.
Reported EBITDA increased 3.1% to ₹1,049 crore (approx. US$108.7M) as lower investment income weighed on overall profitability. Investment income declined to ₹116 crore (approx. US$12M) from ₹303 crore (approx. US$31.4M) in the prior-year quarter, resulting in the reported EBITDA margin easing to 9.6% from 10.6%.
Finance costs also fell sharply to ₹44 crore (approx. US$4.6M), while depreciation increased to ₹338 crore (approx. US$35M), contributing to higher bottom-line earnings.
IPL strengthens audience and commercial momentum
The IPL remained JioStar’s biggest growth catalyst during the quarter, supporting audience acquisition, engagement and monetisation across both television and digital platforms.
The company said IPL 2026 became the tournament’s most-watched edition, reaching 1.2 billion viewers across television and digital, while digital reach alone climbed to 700 million users. Regional-language digital watch time during the tournament also increased 33%, reinforcing JioStar’s multilingual distribution strategy.
Despite macroeconomic challenges, including disruption linked to conflict in the Middle East, the company said IPL monetisation remained resilient, although it did not disclose advertising revenue or the split between television and digital earnings from the tournament.
Women’s cricket also contributed to commercial activity during the quarter, with the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup attracting sponsorship from categories including consumer electronics, artificial intelligence and wellness.
JioHotstar expands engagement beyond live sport
JioHotstar continued to record strong user growth, reaching an all-time high average of 530 million monthly active users, up 15% year-on-year. Entertainment watch time increased 16%, demonstrating sustained engagement beyond live sporting events.
The platform also continued expanding its technology-led user experience. During the IPL, multilingual voice search powered through its OpenAI collaboration was introduced alongside an integrated Swiggy ordering feature that enabled viewers to place food orders without leaving the platform. According to the company, the initiative generated an unprecedented volume of orders, with half of participating users coming from Tier-II and smaller cities.
Its AI-powered conversational discovery platform also recorded increasing engagement during the quarter.
Short-form content emerged as another growth area, with Tadka surpassing 100 million active users within two months of launch. Average daily watch time per user increased fivefold over the same period, while JioStar also introduced its first AI-generated microdrama, Game On: 4,000 Crore Empire, using its proprietary JAMS platform.
Television leadership remains a key strength
Alongside its digital business, JioStar maintained its leadership across India’s television market.
The network retained a 34% share of entertainment viewership and reached more than 810 million viewers nationwide during the quarter. Within the Hindi pay television entertainment segment, it recorded a 44% market share.
Star Plus accounted for five of India’s ten most-watched Hindi entertainment programmes, while Laughter Chefs Season 3 remained the leading non-fiction programme. Star Utsav continued to lead the free-to-air entertainment segment following its return to DD FreeDish, while Star Pravah, Star Jalsha, Star Maa, Star Vijay, Asianet and Colors Gujarati maintained leadership across their respective regional markets. JioStar also retained a 47% share of the children’s television genre.
Original programming and interactive features support streaming growth
Original programming continued to strengthen engagement across JioHotstar’s streaming portfolio.
Thukra Ke Mera Pyaar Season 2 delivered 50% higher engagement than its predecessor, while Inspector Avinash Season 2 recorded 65% season-on-season growth. Pritam and Pedro became the platform’s biggest Hindi special release of 2026.
Interactive viewing also continued to expand, with one in four viewers participating through live chat, memes or trivia during the premiere of Dhurandhar: The Revenge, while one in five engaged with integrated commerce features, reflecting JioStar’s strategy of combining entertainment, technology and commerce within a single viewing experience.
Strong foundations for the remainder of FY27
The quarter highlighted JioStar’s ability to convert audience scale into stronger financial performance through higher subscription revenue, digital advertising growth and continued leadership across sports and entertainment.
While lower investment income affected reported margins, the company’s underlying operating performance improved significantly, positioning the business to build on its momentum as it looks to sustain growth beyond the IPL-driven quarter.
