Disney’s Hotstar will stream cricket events free to Indian mobile customers, following Reliance’s JioCinema model that attracted millions of viewers.
Disney+ Hotstar said on Friday that it would break the gate on the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup live streaming for all mobile viewers in the cricket-loving country.
JioCinema smashed Hotstar’s concurrent view record days earlier. JioCinema’s 32 million concurrent viewers for the 16th Indian Cricket League (IPL) championship last week surpassed Hotstar’s 25 million. Reliance’s free cricket streaming set the record.
“Making the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup available to a wider audience, we believe, will help us grow the overall eco-system,” said Disney+ Hotstar Head Sajith Sivanandan in a statement.
Disney+ Hotstar lost IPL streaming rights to JioCinema last year for five years until 2027. The latter streamed the cricket event free this year due to the move.
Hotstar’s largest market, India, has 53 million customers. Therefore JioCinema’s IPL rights deal hurt it. According to Disney’s recent statistics, the platform lost 8.4 million customers since October, including 4.6 million in the March quarter. Its average revenue per subscriber fell to 59 cents from 74 cents in March.
JioCinema, owned by Viacom18 and backed by James Murdoch’s Bodhi Tree, has partnered with Warner Bros. and NBCUniversal to extend its portfolio. JioCinema recently launched a $12 (999 Indian rupees) annual premium subscription for international content. The platform has not revealed cricket streaming under its subscription tier.
However, Hotstar’s free mobile cricket streaming may attract JioCinema viewers and produce local ad money.