Healthy EBITDA despite tough macros, ad recovery signs emerging: JioStar’s Kevin Vaz

JioStar delivered a healthy EBITDA performance despite a tough macroeconomic environment, backed by strong subscription growth across both digital and television and record-high digital entertainment revenues driven by CTV and focused content monetisation, said Kevin Vaz, CEO–Entertainment, JioStar.

During an earnings call post the release of its third quarter financial result, Vaz also said the TV advertising market remains under pressure due to FMCG and consumer electronics spend cuts, but December showed encouraging post-GST recovery signs.

“Our operating revenue for the quarter, a strong Rs 6,896 crores, an EBITDA of Rs 1,303 crores. A healthy EBITDA performance in spite of tough macroeconomic environment. A strong performance in subscription revenue across both digital and TV.

“The TV ad market continues to be challenging due to spend cuts from FMCG and consumer electronics. But the good part is post-GST, December month has shown great signs of recovery, and we are hoping that continues as we go forward. Lastly, it is not fair to compare year to a year comparison, as the previous quarter we started the merger only from November 14th. So, we have had strong momentum growth sustained despite the macroenvironment conditions,” Vaz said.

Read On: JioStar posts Rs 8,010 cr revenue in Q3; 9-month revenue crosses Rs 26,000 cr

He added that linear TV shares rose by 100 basis points to 34.6 %, equal to the next three networks combined.

JioStar reported a revenue of Rs 8,010 crore in Q3 FY26 and Rs 26,464 crore for the nine-month period ended FY26. In the preceding quarter, Q2 FY26, the company had posted a revenue of Rs 7,232 crore.

Revenue from operations for Q3 FY26 stood at Rs 6,896 crore, up from Rs 6,179 crore in Q2 FY26. For the nine-month period from April 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025, operating revenue amounted to Rs 22,676 crore.

For FY25, which JioStar defines as the period from November 14, 2024, when the merger of Disney Star and Reliance was completed, to March 31, 2025, the company recorded a gross revenue of Rs 11,032 crore.

JioStar’s profit after tax (PAT) stood at Rs 888 crore in Q3 FY26, compared with Rs 1,322 crore in Q2 FY26. For the nine-month period ended December 31, 2025, the company reported a PAT of Rs 2,791 crore.

Operationally, JioStar said its television network reached over 830 million viewers, delivering more than 60 billion hours of watch time during the quarter. Its streaming platform, JioHotstar, averaged 450 million monthly active users (MAUs)—up 13% quarter-on-quarter and nearly on par with the IPL-heavy Q1 FY26.

Vaz said the company’s streaming platform JioHotstar continued to grow quarter on quarter, with strong traction across both entertainment and sports.

Read On: TV and digital are thriving simultaneously: Kevin Vaz

“This quarter had some of our biggest entertainment shows and they performed extremely well on the platform,” he said, adding that franchises such as Bigg Boss, which ran simultaneously in Hindi and four southern markets, delivered “one of our highest ever ad revenues” and helped drive a 40 % growth in digital watch time.

He noted that originals such as Search starring Konkona Sen and Mrs. Deshpande with Madhuri Dixit were among the top performers across OTT platforms, citing Ormax ratings.

Recent film premieres in Malayalam and Telugu including Lokah and Mirai were also the most watched titles in their categories.

Vaz said the company’s first AI led content experiment, Mahabharat, emerged as “one of our best launches”, recording two times viewership growth over its previous best performing shows and leading to the highest engagement and monetisation on the network.

On sports, Vaz highlighted the sharp rise in women’s cricket consumption, saying live watch time for the Women’s World Cup was ten times higher than the previous edition held in 2024.

Viewership grew four times with a peak concurrency of 21 million, while the final match drew audiences on par with men’s cricket and comparable to an IPL game, he said.

“Kabaddi had doubled its viewers and watch time, reinforcing its position as the second biggest sport after cricket, while men’s bilateral series saw around 55 percent growth in watch time and viewers compared to pre-merger levels. Pro Kabaddi League watch time rose by around 120 % year on year,” he said.

Operationally, Vaz said JioHotstar’s average monthly active users stood at 450 million, marking a 13% growth over the previous quarter. “We managed to convert a lot of our consumers from cricket to entertainment and keep them on our platform quarter on quarter,” he said. Entertainment watch time grew 15 %, driven by new seasons of Bigg Boss and strong regional and Hindi programming, while record high monetisation was supported by a stronger connected TV mix and a wider client base.

On the film business, Vaz said Avatar: Fire and Ash had emerged as one of the biggest Hollywood releases of 2025, grossing more than Rs 200 crore in the first 15 days on the back of innovative marketing and distribution by JioStar.