Hotstar vanished from my Fire Stick overnight. Same email. Same password. Different app name. From 2 September 2026 the UK Hotstar app is done, and JioHotstar is the official replacement. Canada and Singapore got the same swap.
If you still have a Hotstar icon lingering on a TV or phone, treat it as a museum piece. Sign in on the new app instead. Your login should still work. Your plan should convert. And yes, I checked the pricing so you do not have to squint at three press releases.
Quick honesty up front: no live sports at launch. IPL, WPL, England cricket, the lot. Existing rights deals mean entertainment only for now. JioStar has not ruled sports out later. Do not buy this expecting match day.
What actually changed on 2 September
JioHotstar is the international brand from JioStar (the Reliance-Disney joint venture that already merged Hotstar and JioCinema in India). TechCrunch confirmed Hotstar “ceases to exist” in the UK, Canada, and Singapore from 2 September, with JioHotstar taking over.
This is not a US launch. That market is not in this first wave. It is a diaspora-first push: more than 160,000 hours of films, serials, originals, and reality, across more than 12 Asian languages, with subtitles and dubs. Asian Sunday also notes roughly 30,000 hours of new content expected each year.
Channels in the mix include Star Plus, Colors, Star Vijay, Asianet, Star Jalsha, Star Pravah, plus extras such as Star Gold and Colors Gujarati depending on the write-up. UK viewers get same-time simcasts of big soaps. Think Anupama, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, and friends airing with the Indian TV slot rather than days late.
Originals on the shelf include Criminal Justice, Special Ops, Asur, Aarya, Kerala Crime Files, and more. Reality fans get the usual circus: Koffee With Karan, Khatron Ke Khiladi, Splitsvilla, Roadies, Cooku With Comali.
UK pricing (from 2 September 2026)
Verified from TechCrunch, Eastern Eye, and Asian Sunday. Do not invent other tiers from old Hotstar screenshots.
- Quarterly: £19.99
- Annual: £69.99
- Existing UK monthly Hotstar plans: can continue while auto-renewal stays active
- Old Hotstar login: works on JioHotstar; subscription converts to the matching tier
New quarterly option is useful if you only binge festival weeks or Bigg Boss season. Annual is the cleaner “set and forget” if the household lives on Hindi or South Indian serials every night.
Prices move. Soft rule: re-check the App Store, Google Play, or Sky app path before you pay. This post is a snapshot from early September 2026 reporting, not a forever price list.
How to switch in about ten minutes
- Download JioHotstar from the App Store, Google Play, or your connected TV’s app store. Do not keep hammering the old Hotstar icon.
- Sign in with your existing Hotstar email or mobile credentials. Company line is that the account carries over and the plan maps to the equivalent JioHotstar tier.
- Check Account / Subscription. Confirm whether you are on quarterly, annual, or a legacy monthly that is still renewing. Screenshot it if the household shares one login.
- Remove or ignore the old Hotstar app so nobody in the house keeps opening a dead door.
- On Sky Q, Sky Glass, or Sky Stream: open the JioHotstar app on that device and subscribe there if you want the streamer on the big screen. Asian Sunday and Broadcast both describe that path. Eligible Sky TV customers keep getting JioStar linear channels as part of their Sky package; the on-demand library is the separate app subscribe step.
If you are already deep in Sky’s app world after the recent Glass/Stream tweaks, this sits nicely next to that living-room setup: Sky Go, Glass and Stream app upgrade notes.
Bigg Boss: vote from the UK (finally)
This is the bit that will make WhatsApp groups explode.
From around 6 September, UK viewers can follow multiple Indian Bigg Boss editions on JioHotstar (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, with Bangla already in the mix per Asian Sunday). Live voting is available for UK, Canada, and Singapore. UK and Canada also get the 24/7 house feed, so you can doomscroll the fridge drama between episodes.
Broadcast framed it as UK audiences getting a say in the Indian Big Brother editions. That is the cultural hook for a lot of British South Asian households who used to watch delayed clips and argue without a ballot.
No sports. Say it again.
JioHotstar in India is famous for cricket. This international launch is not that product.
TechCrunch: more than 160,000 hours of entertainment, without live sports at launch because of existing content deals. The company did not rule out sports later. Until that changes, if you want IPL or other live rights in the UK, you still need whatever licensed sports apps already carry them. Do not cancel a sports subscription expecting JioHotstar to fill the gap on day one.
The old VPN workaround era is over (for the UK)
Years ago a lot of us pointed mates at VPN tricks to watch Hotstar catalogues from outside India. I even kept a guide live for that messy era: how to watch Hotstar outside India. Useful history. Not the UK playbook anymore.
Britain now has an official JioHotstar app, official pricing, and a Sky path. Use that. Keep the VPN guide for curiosity or for markets that still lack a legitimate local product. The US is still not in this launch wave, so that older post may stay relevant there longer than it does here.
Who this is actually for
Multi-language households that bounce between Hindi soaps and Malayalam cinema. Bigg Boss voters who want the live feed. Sky homes that already take JioStar channels and now want the on-demand pile on Glass or Stream. Anyone tired of juggling three half-working apps for the same Star library.
Who should pause: pure sports fans, and anyone who only wanted Hotstar for cricket rights they never had in this international catalogue anyway.
Checklist before you pay
- Confirm the JioHotstar app opens and accepts your Hotstar login.
- Read the plan screen carefully (quarterly £19.99 vs annual £69.99, or legacy monthly).
- If you are on Sky Q / Glass / Stream, try the in-app subscribe path on that box.
- Remember: entertainment catalogue, not live sports, at launch.
- Re-check store listings and Sky for any price or availability change after you read this.
Hotstar’s UK chapter closed on 2 September. JioHotstar is the door that opened. Download the new app, keep the old password, skip the sports disappointment, and if Bigg Boss is your religion, get the vote button ready.
