Disney's video streaming service Disney+ Hotstar hit a new milestone on September 11 as the service drew a peak concurrency of around 28 million viewers during the India vs Pakistan cricket match in the ongoing Asia Cup tournament, powered by free cricket streaming for mobile users.
With this, the streaming platform has surpassed its previous record of 25.3 million concurrent viewers, which was set during the ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final match between India and New Zealand in 2019.
This is the highest digital viewership for any cricket match involving India, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. We have reached out to Disney Star for a comment.
To be sure, JioCinema currently holds the world record for the highest number of concurrent users for a cricket match. The streaming platform drew more than 32 million simultaneous viewers during the May 2023 final match between the Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament.
This development is likely to offer some relief to Disney+ Hotstar, which has faced a series of setbacks in the past year or two due to heightened competition in the country's video streaming industry.
Disney+ Hotstar, the country's leading streaming service, has lost nearly 21 million subscribers in the past three quarters. Its paid member base plummeted to 40.4 million subscribers for the quarter ending July 1, 2023, from a peak of 61.3 million subscribers in the quarter ending October 2022.
The decline in the subscriber base comes at a time when the streaming service no longer has access to key content offerings that were instrumental in driving its initial growth in India: IPL streaming rights and premium HBO content, which Viacom18 now holds the rights to.
During the company's earnings conference call in August 2023, Disney's interim CFO Kevin Lansberry attributed the subscriber decline to a product adjustment from one that was centred around the IPL to a more balanced one with other sports and entertainment offerings.
These developments also came as Disney is reportedly exploring a sale or a joint venture for its Star India (now Disney Star) business, which the company inherited as part of its $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019.
In a bid to attract viewers, Disney+ Hotstar announced in June that it will offer free streaming of marquee cricket tournaments, including the Asia Cup and the upcoming ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, to mobile users in India. This came after JioCinema streamed the IPL tournament for free to consumers earlier this year.
"Making the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup available to a wider audience, we believe, will help us grow the overall ecosystem," Sajith Sivanandan, head of Disney+ Hotstar said at the time.
Last year, Disney Star retained the digital and television rights for all ICC events until the end of 2027 for a reported $3 billion and sublicensed the television rights to Zee Entertainment Enterprises.
Disclaimer: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
