Hotstar is reportedly going to offer Disney+ content at no extra cost. According to a report, Indian customers will be able to stream Disney+ content directly via Hotstar by paying for the existing Premium plans.
Disney+ is set to launch on 12 November in the US and will be priced at $6.99 per month or $69.99 annually. It will compete with established players such as Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, HBO Now and so on. The streaming service will be available on Android and iOS, gaming consoles including Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation, streaming media players as well as smart TVs. The streaming of 4K HDR video will be supported on compatible devices as well. Disney has confirmed that it will have 7,500 TV show episodes and 500 movies available on the platform at launch.
This could be a smart move since Hotstar, which is a subsidiary of Star India, is now owned by Disney. Launching a separate streaming service would be a huge task as it would involve managing the data servers, along with a dedicated support network for the app. Instead, Disney can just leverage Hotstar's wide user base network in the country which had 300 million monthly active users in March.
“Hunger for content and ability to pay are unlocking growth for consumer payments in video. India has become a magnet for all media and content companies,” said Uday Shankar, Chairman at Star and Disney India, and president, The Walt Disney Co., Asia Pacific.
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