Reliance’s Viacom18 today announced that it has signed a multi-year partnership deal with NBCUniversal (NBCU). The deal will bring popular NBCU shows such as Suits, The Office and Parks and Recreation to JioCinema. This is the second major deal that Viacom18 has secured after its exclusive deal with Warner Bros Discovery Inc. for JioCinema.

In April, Reliance Industries signed an exclusive deal with Warner Bros Discovery Inc. for JioCinema. This brings all the popular popular HBO shows, Max Original and Hollywood movies to JioCinema. Also, these shows will release the same day in India as the US.

With this deal, fans in India can once again enjoy all the popular shows including House of The Dragon, The Last of Us, Succession, The White Lotus and Euphoria. Upcoming HBO Original shows including The Idol and White House Plumbers will also be available to stream when released. The existing library of hit shows such as Game of Thrones, Chernobyl and Big Little Lies will also be available.

JioCinema scoring these international catalogs should be cause of concern for global giants. JioCinema, which has over the years poached high-profile talent from Hotstar, offers the most affordable streaming service among the mainstream firms. Compared to a standard Netflix plan, which costs $6 a month, JioCinema Premium levies a fee of just $12 for a year.

The streaming service, which is home to the highly popular IPL cricket tournament and also offers a free and ad-supported tier has started to appear as a real 'rival'.

Viacom18, a joint venture between tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance and Paramount Global, also counts former Star executives Uday Shankar and James Murdoch’s Bodhi Tree among its backers. Bodhi Tree reduced its planned investment in Viacom18 to $528 million last month, a 70% decrease from the initial commitment of $1.78 billion. Bodhi Tree plans to increase its stake in Viacom18.