Disney Hotstar loses 4million subscribers after Giving Up IPL Streaming Rights
Ten News Network
New Delhi (India), 14th May 2023: According to Disney earnings reports, Disney+Hotstar lost 4.6 million members in the second quarter of fiscal year 2022. This comes after the portal lost the digital rights to the Indian Premier League beginning in 2023 to Reliance-owned JioCinema.
According to the company’s results report, the worldwide entertainment behemoth that operates a number of streaming platforms had a 2% decrease in its total subscriber base for the fiscal quarter ending March of this year. Hotstar has lost 8.4 million subscribers since October of last year.
The number of paying subscribers for Disney+Hostar fell by 3.8 million to 57.5 million in the first quarter of 2023. According to the company’s quarterly report, Disney+ Hotstar has 52.9 million paid customers as of April 1, 2023, a reduction of 4.4 million from the previous quarter.
Furthermore, in Q2, the average monthly revenue per paying member for Disney+ Hotstar fell by 20%, from $0.74 to $0.59.
JioCinema, owned by Viacom18, on the other hand, has grown in popularity, with over 10 million customers reportedly enrolling in the first quarter of 2023. Viacom18 just paid $2.9 billion for digital streaming rights to the IPL from 2023 to 2027. Disney Hotstar had been the sole TV and digital rights holder for the IPL for the previous five years.
Disney stated in an earnings report, “Lower impressions were attributable to decreases in average viewership at our sports and non-sports channels.”
Hotstar’s licencing partnership with HBO was also recently concluded. The entertainment behemoth quickly removed its entire catalogue from the Indian site, with Viacom18 acquiring the rights to HBO and other Warner Bros. programming.
Viacom18 stated on Thursday that it has reached an agreement with Warner Bros. to deliver HBO, Max Original, and Warner Bros. programming to the JioCinema app. The agreement will make popular shows including “Succession”, “House of the Dragon”, the future “Harry Potter” series, and DC Universe films available on the site.
