Hotstar, the prominent digital streaming platform owned by the Walt Disney Co, announced a strategic move on Friday to offer free access to cricket tournaments such as the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup for all mobile users. This decision comes after Hotstar lost the streaming rights for the highly popular Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament to JioCinema, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries.
JioCinema’s decision to provide free viewing of the IPL matches resulted in a staggering 1.47 billion digital views during the tournament’s first weekend, setting a record in the industry. By eliminating the paywall, Hotstar aims to win back some of the audience that migrated to JioCinema for IPL matches.
According to a report released in May 2023, Hotstar experienced a significant loss of approximately 8.4 million subscribers over the past six months. This decline has contributed to a 2% reduction in overall Disney+ memberships, resulting in a decrease from 161.8 million to 157.8 million subscribers.
The streaming landscape has become fiercely competitive, with Hotstar facing setbacks in India. During the quarter ending on April 1, Disney+ Hotstar witnessed an 8% decline in memberships, losing 4.6 million subscribers and bringing the total count down to 52.9 million. This consecutive quarterly subscriber loss coincided with Hotstar losing streaming rights for IPL matches and HBO content.
To compound the challenges faced by Hotstar, JioCinema recently secured rights to HBO content and forged a multi-year agreement with NBC Universal. This strategic alliance will provide Indian audiences with an extensive selection of movies and TV shows from the renowned American media company, further intensifying the competition for Hotstar in the streaming market.
