Disney to transfer Hotstar content to Hulu, ESPN+ in U.S.

Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) said on Tuesday that content from its streaming service Hotstar — home to India’s IPL cricket tournament and original shows like “Aarya” — will migrate to its ESPN+ and Hulu streaming platforms in the United States.

Disney, which has 174 million paying customers across its four streaming services, is looking to gradually consolidate its content into a Disney Bundle, which incorporates ESPN+, Hulu, Disney+ and in excess of 100,000 movies, TV episodes just as games.

Sports content from Hotstar will move to ESPN+, and Hotstar films just as TV shows will relocate to Hulu, which is home to series like “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

A Hotstar annual subscription costs $49.99 each year, while the Disney Bundle, what begins at $13.99 each month, will cost subscribers essentially $167.88 for a year.

Hotstar clients in the U.S. will get a redemption code to avail an offer to move their subscriptions to the whole Disney bundle, at no cost.

IPL COMES TO ESPN+

Hotstar is well known in India as it streams Bollywood films, neighborhood TV shows and cricket tournaments.

In the first half of 2021, the Hotstar mobile app had uniquely about 0.04% piece of the pie of installs among the best 100 streaming services in the U.S, as indicated by information investigation firm Sensor Tower. In cricket-crazy India, in any case, it had a 29% piece of the pie of all new downloads among the best 100 portable real time video on request applications.

The Indian Premier League (IPL), which has an estimated brand value of $6.8 billion, is the most extravagant Twenty20 league and draws in a significant number of the best players from around the world.

The league’s fourteenth season was suspended on May 4 with 31 matches left to play after a few players and backroom staff tried positive for COVID-19 in the midst of a staggering second influx of infections in India.

The excess matches will stream on ESPN+ in the U.S. at the point when the tournament resumes from Sept. 19.