- Disney+ to debut in India through Hotstar
- Debut to coincide with IPL 2020 kickoff
For the acclaimed shows like Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, Westworld, Veep, The Americans Hotstar subscribers had to put up with flops which were remakes of American shows like Hostages, The Office (Indian version) and Out of Love. Hotstar has never been able to match Netflix’s genre-defining show Sacred Games. In fact, Netflix became the victim of Sacred Games’ very own success which raised audience expectations dividing the second season opinion and splitting the fans.
Hotstar got a shot in the arm when Disney head Bob Iger officially announced the entry of Disney+ in India. In the year 2019, Hotstar reported 300 million active users, but most of these users were free. It is evident that to access the rich Disney content now, the user will only have to avail themselves of the Hotstar Premium package.
The date set for Disney+ to set its content in the Indian OTT space is March 29, coinciding with the kickoff of the 2020 edition of Indian Premier League. Each passing month has intensified the streaming wars globally while players like Netflix and Prime Video look at India as the source of new subscribers.
With about 300 million users, Hotstar seems to have a larger share in the OTT space due to its cricketing and footballing content. The platform also has the rights for the HBO shows which are not only critically but universally liked and loved. March 2020 will also see the third season of the show ‘Westworld’ on Hotstar, which is likely to attract more eyeballs towards the app.
With a library of collections that includes Marvel products, Star Wars and the access to various 20th Century Fox productions, Disney+ is going to boost Hotstar’s appeal.
