Disney+ Hotstar, one of the major over-the-top (OTT) ecosystems, has breached the 50 M subscriber mark. The Walt Disney Company (Disney), the parent company of Disney+ Hotstar, announced the total paid subscriber numbers on April 2, 2022.

The streaming service’s average monthly yields per paid user also escalated to reach $0.76 (INR 58.83), as compared to $0.49 (INR 37.93) in the quarter a year ago.

However, the number still stands very low in comparison to the average monthly revenue per paid user of overall Disney+. Disney's international average monthly revenue per paid user which does not conclude Disney+Hotstar was at $6.33.

Disney+ added 7.9 M subscribers to take its subscriber base to 137.7 M. 

The other streaming giant Netflix ended the March with 200,000 fewer subscribers. Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said that “nice uptick in engagement in India”.

Disney+ competes with big OTT giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, apart from that Disney+ Hotstar competes with ZEE5, Voot, MX Player, ALTBalaji, SonyLIV, and more. 

India’s OTT yield is expected to boost to about $4.5 Bn by 2026 from $1.9 Bn in last year. According to a FICCI-EY report, 40 M Indian households paid for 80 M OTT video subscriptions in the last spent year.

Recently, Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS) also mentioned that it would launch its global streaming service Paramount in India in the year 2023.

EXECUTIVE OPINION:

“We ended the quarter with nearly 138 Mn global paid Disney+ subscribers, reflecting close to 8 Mn net additions from Q1. A little over half of those net ads were from Disney+ Hotstar, which benefited from the start of the new IPL season towards the end of the second quarter,” said Bob Chapek, chief executive officer of Disney.