JioCinema Premium annual plan has been silently launched by the platform, a month after the Viacom18-owned streaming service introduced a monthly subscription plan that offers access to streaming videos at up 4K resolution without advertisements (except for sports and live events). The cost of the annual plan is cheaper than those offered by rival services, as well as the original, now-discontinued premium plan. Meanwhile, an introductory offer brings the price of the newly launched annual subscription down by 50 percent.
The streaming platform on Saturday confirmed the arrival of the new plan and the JioCinema website now offers a Premium Annual plan that is priced at Rs. 599. As part of an introductory offer, customers can avail of a 50 percent discount that brings the price of the subscription down to Rs. 299. After the first 12-month billing cycle is over, the platform will charge users the full amount.
According to the company’s website, the JioCinema Premium Annual plan offers the same benefits as the monthly plan — ad-free streaming of videos including premium content — HBO, Paramount, Peacock, and Warner Bros. — at 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 continue to includue advertisements.
At its current price of Rs. 299, the Premium Annual plan offers much better value for money than the Premium Monthly plan, as the latter renews at Rs. 59. The new Premium Annual plan is also much cheaper than the older annual subscription option that was priced at Rs. 999, and was discontinued last month.
Last month, JioCinema introduced a Premium Family subscription priced at Rs. 149, with an introductory offer that lowered the subscription price to Rs. 89 for the first month. There’s no word on whether the company plans to introduce an annual version of the Premium Family subscription plan.
Even at Rs. 59, JioCinema’s monthly subscription is still cheaper than Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, and Amazon Prime Video. A mobile-only Netflix plan starts at Rs. 149 a month, both Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video charge customers a monthly subscription fee of Rs. 299, while the annual cost of both streaming services is Rs. 1,499.