Disney+ Hotstar loses 4.6 million subscribers as JioCinema gains users in India

JioCinema is slated to be one of the top streaming apps in the country with its ongoing free IPL streaming, and its recent partnership with Warner Bros Discovery Inc. The impact is quite visible as we can see the subscriber rate of Disney+ Hotstar decline rapidly. The Ambani-owned streaming platform now offers the two sought after content that was previously available on Disney+ Hotstar — IPL and HBO shows. 

Disney+ Hotstar subscriber drop

In its recent earnings report for Q1 2023 (January-March), Walt Disney reported a drop of 4.6 million subscribers for Disney+ Hotstar. The paid subscriber rate for Disney+ Hotstar now sits at 52.9 million which is an 8 percent decrease from 57.5 million in December last year. There are a couple of reasons why Disney+ Hotstar is losing subscribers in India, and one of them is its new rival JioCinema. 

Disney+ Hotstar which used to livestream the very popular IPL cricket tournament in India lost the bid to Viacom18 this time. IPL 2023 now stream on JioCinema, and for free. Disney also mentioned this in the earnings report saying that the decrease was due to lower sports viewership particularly the IPL matches. 

“The decrease at our sports channels was primarily due to cricket programming, which reflected airing fewer Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in the current quarter compared to the prior-year quarter as the 2023 IPL season started approximately one week later than the 2022 season,” Disney said in its earnings report.

HBO content to stream on JioCinema in India

Another big loss for Disney+ Hotstar was the removal of popular HBO shows like Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Succession and The Last of Us. In fact, Viacom18 recently announced an exclusive deal with Warner Bros Discovery Inc. to stream these shows including the upcoming Harry Potter series and popular Hollywood movies. 

Jio, which is known for its aggressive low pricing, is rumoured to offer JioCinema at affordable rates. A recent leak revealed subscription rates as low as Rs 2 per day but as an introductory offer. Post that it would cost Rs 29 per day, Rs 299 for three months and Rs 1,119 for one year. This is still much lower than rival streaming platforms like Netflix. 

Disney+ Hotstar still has a wide range of content offering including the entire range of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars. It also still streams like sports like the Premier League. But seeing how the streaming platform is witnessing a steady decline, this might not be enough for the content-hungry audience in India.