The Star network-owned video streaming platform Hotstar has rebranded its app into Disney+ hotstar and has begun offering exclusive content from Disney+ for Indian users ahead of its official launch on March 29.
Disney owns Star India and Hotstar after its deal to acquire Fox’s entertainment assets closed last year.
Disney’s exclusive content like The Mandalorian, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, High School Musical and a series of Disney titles are now live on the rebranded app, Entrackr found after a quick search on the app.
We were able to play the exclusive content via our Disney+hotstar premium account.
Entrackr’s queries to Hotstar on this development went unanswered until the publication of the report. We will update the post as and when we receive a response from the company.
Last month, the then Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger had said that Disney+ will be launched on March 29 in India and offered through bundled product. Currently, Hotstar Premium is available for Rs 299 per month and Rs 999 per year.
Meanwhile, Hostar has also quietly replaced its older green and yellow icon and logo with the blue colour of Disney.
In November last year, Disney Plus was officially rolled out for the US market. A day after its launch, Disney Plus claimed to have signed up 10 million users. Besides the US, it is also available in Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Canada.
In India, Hotstar leads the video streaming segment with over 300 million MAUs or monthly active users.
With rising competition in India’s video streaming space, the incumbents are aggressively adopting ways to woo the millennials. After Amazon Prime’s Rs. 129 monthly subscription plan, Netflix had launched a mobile-only subscription at Rs 199 in July.
Besides other significant players including MX Player, Jio, Zee5 and AltBalaji; Alibaba has also been planning to have its streaming product in India.
The on-demand streaming market has been growing at a higher rate than the global average in India. According to a PwC report, it is projected to grow at 22.6% CAGR, to $823 million in 2022.
