Locking horns with JioCinema? Disney+ Hotstar to stream World Cup 2023, Asia Cup to mobile users for free!

In a bid to challenge Mukesh Ambani JioCinema's growth, Disney+ Hotstar on Friday announced that Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup tournaments will be made available as free-to-view to all mobile phone users accessing their application.

 

 

 

The move by Disney+Hotstar has come at a time when Asia's richest person Ambani is betting heavily on live streaming of sports matches in recent months.

 

Though Disney-Star holds both digital and TV rights of ICC tournaments after paying a whopping $3.04 billion for the current cycle, to entice viewers after the success of JioCinema in IPL, Disney-Star has made it completely free for mobile users. But for TV viewers, both tournaments will be behind paid packages. 

 

 

Sajith Sivanandan, head of Disney+Hotstar told Exchange4 Media, " Disney+Hotstar has remained at the forefront of the rapidly evolving OTT industry in India and the various innovations we have introduced to continue enhancing the viewer experience has allowed us to delight our audiences across the region. Making the Asia Cup and ICC Men's Cricket World Cup available to a wider audience, we believe, will help us to grow the overall eco-system".

Newly launched JioCinema, the streaming service led by Ambanis, netted a record number of viewers for the Indian Premier League final in 2023. JioCinema, which was the official streaming partner of the IPL 2023, offered free streaming of the cricket tournament. Ambani’s media venture outbid companies including Disney to clinch the digital rights to IPL. At present, Disney in India is facing an exodus of paid subscribers.

Ambani’s conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. has aspirations to become a global media behemoth and JioCinema has already started charging for content after acquiring rights to HBO and Warner Bros Discovery Inc. shows as it takes on giants like Walt Disney Co. and Netflix Inc. in the massive Indian market.