Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Streaming service Hotstar sets a record. Around 59 million viewers accessed the Disney-owned platform at the same time to watch the Cricket World Cup final.
Around 59 million people watched the streaming of the Cricket World Cup final on Sunday (19/11/2023) local time. In the match which was held in India, India successfully defeated Australia and won the world title.
Now, Disney’s Hotstar is the leader in streaming services in India. Its closest rival is billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s JioCinema, with a record 32 million viewers.
Disney is broadcasting the Cricket World Cup via Hotstar for free for Hotstar mobile application users. The surge in users during this competition could be the savior of the bleeding Hotstar. In the last year, the number of Hotstar subscribers has shrunk by 23 million accounts.
Disney CEO Bob Iger earlier this month expressed Disney’s commitment to staying in India. The company that owns the intellectual rights to Marvel and Star Wars characters has several plans to build a profitable business in India.
One of them, Disney is reportedly in discussions with several companies to collaborate, including Ambani’s Reliance group.
Cricket is a major bone of contention between streaming companies in India. Ambani disbursed US$ 3 billion so that his company could broadcast the IPL cricket league for 5 years via streaming. Disney also broadcasts IPL, but via live TV.
Apart from India, Disney+ Hotstar also operates in the Southeast Asia region, including Indonesia. At mid-year, Disney said the number of Disney+ Hotstar subscribers was 40.3 million or 24 percent lower than 52.9 million at the end of the first quarter.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
(dem/dem)