Disney to move Hotstar content to Hulu, ESPN + in US

Aug.31 (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) said on Tuesday that content from its streaming service Hotstar – which hosts the IPL cricket tournament in India and original shows like “Aarya” – will migrate to its streaming platforms. ESPN + and Hulu streaming in the United States.

Disney, which has 174 million paying customers on its four streaming services, is looking to slowly consolidate its content into a Disney Bundle, which includes ESPN +, Hulu, Disney + and more than 100,000 movies, TV episodes as well as sporting events. .

Hotstar’s sports content will migrate to ESPN +, and Hotstar movies and TV shows will migrate to Hulu, which is home to shows like “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

An annual Hotstar subscription costs $ 49.99 per year, while the Disney Bundle, which starts at $ 13.99 per month, will cost subscribers at least $ 167.88 per year.

Hotstar users in the US will receive a redemption code to qualify for an offer to transfer their subscriptions to the entire Disney package at no cost.

IPL ARRIVES ON ESPN +

Hotstar is popular in India as it broadcasts Bollywood movies, local TV shows, and cricket tournaments.

In the first half of 2021, the Hotstar mobile app only had about 0.04% install market share among the top 100 streaming services in the United States, according to data analytics firm Sensor Tower. In Mad Cricket India, however, it held a 29% market share of all new downloads among the top 100 on-demand video streaming apps for mobile.

The Indian Premier League (IPL), with an estimated brand value of $ 6.8 billion, is the richest Twenty20 league and attracts many of the best players from around the world.

The league’s fourteenth season was put on hold on May 4 with 31 games remaining after several players and behind-the-scenes staff tested positive for COVID-19 amid a second wave of devastating infections in India.

The remaining matches will be broadcast on ESPN + in the US when the tournament resumes from September 19.

Reporting by Chavi Mehta, Subrat Patnaik and Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel

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