At this point in time, as you read this article, the entire Warner Bros. Discovery library, including HBO content, is available on JioHotstar. This is due to an exclusive deal between JioHotstar and Warner Bros. Discovery that has been in place since 2023 and is set to expire in May this year.
This situation leaves two main possibilities. Either JioHotstar will renegotiate the terms to retain the prestigious HBO content on its platform, helping it keep premium paying customers instead of focusing only on ad-oriented viewers. Or HBO Max will pursue its long-standing dream of launching a standalone service in India, a plan that has faced repeated setbacks in the past due to the highly competitive and challenging Indian OTT market.
Why would HBO Max launch in India at all?
HBO Max has shown strong ambition to compete with Netflix on a global scale, something even Disney+ has not fully matched. Following this strategy, the platform has been expanding into both large and small markets, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, the UK, Germany, and others. Interestingly, all of India’s neighbouring countries have successfully established a market for HBO Max without producing any local content for those territories.
Given HBO Max’s goal of becoming a truly global player, it would not make strategic sense to leave a large and lucrative market like India completely untouched.
HBO Max’s past exploration in India
The idea of HBO Max launching in India is not new. Warner Bros. Discovery had been planning this entry since 2021 and even formed a dedicated HBO Max India team to handle content and rollout strategies for Indian audiences.
In June 2021, Warner Bros. hired Amit Malhotra to explore opportunities for launching HBO Max in India, with a focus on managing sales and content distribution.
Around the same time, HBO began approaching local filmmakers to produce original content specifically for the Indian market, recognising that local productions would be important for capturing audiences here.
In September 2021, HBO Max conducted a survey on subscription pricing in India and introduced three proposed plans. Details of the survey leaked and were reported by Hollywood Blockbuster India.
In March 2022, Saugata Mukherjee was appointed as Head of Content for HBO Max India.
However, in August 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery halted its plans for launching HBO Max in India indefinitely. This was a major setback.
The hopes for an independent launch were further reduced when Jio signed a multi-year deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. Still, the fact that the deal was limited to only three years suggests that HBO Max wanted to keep its options open for a direct launch in India. That deal is now set to expire soon.
Latest developments on HBO Max India launch
Some reports indicate that Warner Bros. wanted a five-year extension with Jio, but Jio insisted on a three-year deal due to uncertainty around return on investment. Earlier, Jio had made a very expensive agreement to secure HBO content while competing aggressively with Disney+ Hotstar. Now that Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema have merged into JioHotstar, the platform has stronger bargaining power to renegotiate terms with Warner Bros. Discovery.
If the new terms are not favourable, this gives Warner Bros. Discovery a valid reason to consider launching HBO Max independently in India. especially since groundwork for such a launch already exists.
In August 2025, an insider from a Kerala cable TV operators’ union revealed on Facebook Post that Warner Bros. had applied for trademark registration of its TV channel with the government. The post mentioned plans to relaunch the HBO TV channel in India alongside the HBO Max streaming platform in mid-2026. This timeline aligns well, as it coincides with the expiry of the current HBO deal with Jio and HBO Max’s planned launches in New Zealand, Maldives, and other markets.
For context, Turner previously operated an HBO channel in India that was later discontinued. The new report suggests a relaunch of the linear channel to deliver content through traditional television, similar to how Colors Infinity (owned by Reliance) currently airs HBO content on TV.
In March 2026, HBO approached Aryan Khan, son of Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan, to produce a show for the network. This came after the success of his directorial and production work on Badass of Bollywood. The move fits with HBO Max’s earlier strategy of developing local content for Indian audiences.
In April 2026, JioHotstar interestingly stopped promoting most HBO shows scheduled for release after May 2026, with the notable exception of Harry Potter. Even in that case, an interesting change was noticed.
On social media, JioHotstar usually promotes HBO and Warner Bros. shows with the line “releasing on JioHotstar”. The same phrasing is used for Euphoria Season 3, which falls within the existing deal period. However, for Harry Potter, set to release in December 2026 (beyond the current deal), JioHotstar is promoting it simply as “releasing this December” instead of the usual “releasing on JioHotstar”.
HBO currently has zero official presence in India after shutting down its TV channel in 2020. With no dedicated channel of its own, JioHotstar may be promoting Harry Potter on its behalf. Some fans on Reddit have suggested this could indicate ongoing negotiations rather than a simple deal renewal.
In conclusion, the future of an HBO Max launch in India will likely be decided in the next two months. As of now, the chances appear to be close to 50-50. We will have to wait and see how the negotiations between the parties unfold.
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