The platform has quietly launched an annual JioCinema Premium plan, a month after the Viacom18-owned streaming service introduced a monthly subscription plan that offers ad-free access to 4K video streaming (except for sports and live events). Annual plan costs are cheaper than those offered by competing services, as well as the original, now-discontinued premium plan. Meanwhile, an introductory offer cuts the price of the newly launched annual subscription by 50 percent.
The streaming platform on Saturday confirmed the arrival of the new plan and the JioCinema website is now offering the Premium Annual Plan at Rs. 599. As part of the introductory offer, users can avail a 50 percent discount bringing the subscription price down to Rs. 299. After the end of the first 12-month billing cycle, the platform will charge users the full amount.
According to the company’s website, the annual JioCinema Premium plan offers the same benefits as the monthly plan — ad-free video streaming including premium content — from HBO, Paramount, Peacock and Warner Bros. — in 4K resolution, on one device. Users can also download and watch content on their device for offline viewing.
It’s worth noting that all three streaming plans will offer ad-free streaming, but the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament and other sports and live events will still include commercials.
At the current price of Rs. 299, the Premium Annual Plan offers much better value for money than the Premium Monthly Plan, as the latter renews for Rs. 59. The new Premium annual plan is also much cheaper than the older annual subscription option which was priced at Rs. 999, and it was discontinued last month.
Last month, JioCinema introduced Premium Family Subscription priced at Rs. 149, with an introductory offer bringing the subscription price down to Rs. 89 for the first month. There is no word on whether the company plans to introduce an annual version of the Premium Family subscription plan.
Even for Rs. 59, JioCinema monthly subscription is still cheaper than Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video. Netflix’s mobile-only plan starts at Rs. 149 per month, both Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video charge users a monthly subscription of Rs. 299, while the annual cost of both streaming services is Rs. 1,499.
