Walt Disney Co hot star will offer free streaming of cricket tournaments in India on mobile after its competitor JioCinemas He managed to garner millions of viewers in the cricket-mad nation using a similar strategy. Hotstar said on Friday it would offer users the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup tournaments for free. JioCinema had offered a free broadcast of the IIndian Premier League (IPL)one of the most lucrative annual sporting events in the world after it took internet rights from Hotstar.
Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries’ broadcasting joint venture said it had racked up a record 13 billion digital views in the first five weeks of the tournament, with each viewer spending an average of one hour per game. Research firm CLSA has estimated that Hotstar’s subscriber base shrank by nearly 5 million users after losing IPL rights.
As JioCinema prepares to start charging users for content, executives have stated that IPL streaming will continue to be offered for free. Cricket is the most popular game in the world’s most populous country, where the bulk of digital consumption comes from smartphones, with an estimated 700 million users.
“If free cricket offerings continue for longer term, they may amplify losses for streaming platforms or lead to consolidation as many platforms may not be able to survive on lower revenue per user,” said Karan Taurani, analyst at Elara Capital. Given the high cost of content and fierce competition in digital ads, freemium — a blended revenue model based on both subscription fees and ad sales — is the best choice for steaming platforms in India, Taurani added.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
