Mumbai: The battle for dominance in the live streaming market has intensified as Hotstar rises to challenge Jio Cinema. In the wake of a notable decline in customers following the advent of the free-to-air Jio Cinema platform, Disney Plus Hotstar is gearing up to regain its footing. The streaming giant has announced plans to broadcast major tournaments for free, a strategic move aimed at enticing viewers back to its platform, most probably monetizing on advertisement revenue.
In a bid to capture the attention of sports enthusiasts, Disney will be live streaming the Asia Cup, set to commence later this month, and the much-anticipated ODI World Cup, scheduled to kick off on October 5. The offer of free streaming, however, is exclusively available for mobile phone users.
The game-changing move by Hotstar comes in the wake of its recent loss of a significant customer base, attributed largely to the allure of Jio Cinema’s free-to-air model. Reliance Industries-owned Viacom had secured the digital broadcasting rights from Hotstar for a substantial sum during the previous Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Jio Cinema had gained immense traction by offering free streaming of all IPL matches, accumulating millions of viewers.
Compounding Hotstar’s challenges, the platform had reportedly lost two crore paid subscribers in the past nine months. The loss of IPL rights and the subsequent subscriber exodus prompted Hotstar to devise a strategy to recapture its audience. By making major cricket tournaments like the Asia Cup and ODI World Cup available for free, Hotstar is hoping to reinvigorate viewer engagement and reclaim its status as a premier streaming destination.
Notably, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) auctioned television broadcasting rights and digital broadcasting rights separately. Viacom secured the digital broadcasting rights for the 2023–2027 seasons for a staggering Rs 23,758 crore. Concurrently, the Star Group retained the television broadcasting rights for Rs 23,575 crore. In a previous deal, Disney had secured the digital-TV rights for the 2017–2022 seasons for Rs 16,347.50 crore.
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