Delhi-based developer owns JioHotstar domain and wants Mukesh-Ambani led company to fund his college

In an astute move, an app developer from Delhi bought the “jiohotstar.com” domain, since the latter is reportedly pondering on a gigantic tie-up which is to be announced in Reliance’s Viacom18 with Disney+ Hotstar soon. In a letter published on jiohotstar.com, the individual wrote to the executives of Reliance Industries that selling this domain will really be “truly life-changing.”

In the letter, the app developer took some time elaborating on how they came to notice the domain opportunity when reading a news piece reporting that Disney+ Hotstar had lost its daily active users after losing the license for the IPL streaming service; and Disney could sell or merge Hotstar with an Indian competitor.

The app developer wanted to buy the domain in a simple way: “if this merger comes through, maybe I will be able to study at Cambridge, too,” she said in the letter, signing as ‘a dreamer’.

“Now that the merger has actually happened, and news sources are confirming there will be only one site post-merger (either JioCinema or Hotstar.com), I believe JioHotstar.com would be a very fitting brand name for the merged entity. It maintains the brand equity of both brands and provides a rational transition for the current users of both sites,” he added.

As the jiohotstar.com domain will now make headlines, then only time will tell if Reliance will connect with the developer to buy the domain.

Read the letter in its entirety:.

Dear Executive of Reliance Industries

I am working on my startup. I am an app developer and am situated in Delhi. In January 2023, browsing social media, a news piece caught my eye stating that Disney+ Hotstar was losing daily active users after losing the IPL streaming license, and Disney is considering selling or merging it with an Indian competitor. This led me to hypothesize that, since Sony and Zee were pursuing their own merger, Viacom 18 owned by Reliance, is the only major player with sufficient resources to acquire Disney+ Hotstar. It reminded me when Jio acquired the music streaming service Saavn, they rebranded it to JioSaavn and changed the domain from Saavn.com to JioSaavn.com. I thought, “If they acquire Hotstar, they might rename it to JioHotstar.com.” I checked for the domain-it was available. I was excited as I felt that if this happened, I could fund my goal of studying at Cambridge.

In 2021, I was working on a project that had the opportunity to be selected for the Cambridge University Accelerate program. It has been a transformative experience for me.
I failed to crack into IIT always wanted to learn from the best, coming from a Tier-II college; getting selected for this program was really a very valuable and practical experience. The startup program taught me many lessons and offered insights into the inner workings of startups free of charge, which was fantastic, but to be honest, it was limited in scope-after all, it was just a startup program.

Cambridge also offers a full undergraduate degree course in entrepreneurship, one I have always wanted to do, but could never afford; it’s Cambridge, for goodness’ sake, pretty pricey. I first saw that this domain was available, which made me think things might just fall into place. The intent to buy that domain was simple: if this merger goes ahead, I might be able to do my dream course at Cambridge. Since the merger has already happened and sources confirm that there will be only one site post-merger, namely either JioCinema or Hotstar.com, I feel JioHotstar.com would be a very suitable brand name for the merged entity. It retains both brand equities and offers a rational continuity for the present users of both the sites.

To purchase this domain, kindly mail from your official company e-mail, attaching an official letter stating your authority to purchase on behalf of Reliance Industries/Viacom18. This will be a tiny amount of expenses for a multi-billion dollar company like Reliance; for me though, this is life-changing money.

Best Regards A dreamer.