The domain jiohotstar.com has now been officially sold to Reliance owned Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd. The latest WHOIS records show that Reliance is the new legal owner of the domain/website, after a long chain of events that took at least several months.
The transfer was done this week and the domain transfer can be checked on the records on WHOIS where the domain is today registered in the name of Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd.
Crucially, the contentious domain area consists of branding of two of the largest entertainment and telecom conglomerates in India namely Reliance Jio and Disney plus Hotstar. Initially, it was bought by a Delhi-based engineer, later it belongs to two Dubai based siblings.
The engineer did not register it with the intention of acting maliciously but lost ownership due to rising legal and commercial pursuits. The involvement of the Dubai siblings made it worse.
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The corporate acquisition of Reliance and Viacom18 seems to be another way of grouping their current digital and OTT market under one branding system. The possibilities of the growing streaming ventures such as the partnership with JioCinema and others, it might be beneficial to control the jiohotstar.com domain as a way of clearing up any confusion of brands using a similar web address and using the high visibility to their advantage.
The domain name itself has raised interest because of its appropriateness to brand with two of the largest online properties. Earlier Disney+ Hotstar employing a pretty much stranger strategy had kind of stayed clear from the domain but Reliance’s acquisition looks like a new beginning especially linked to Viacom18’s OTT plans.
Now that it is under Reliance, it is still uncertain how the conglomerate would operate with the domain. Several industry observers are of the following views regarding the future of the domain: It may be renamed and connected to JioCinema or incorporated into Viacom18 digital initiatives. According to the current sources, there is no official declared information concerning the definite plans for the domain.