Hotstar

Hotstar (also known as Disney+ Hotstar[b]) is an Indian brand of

subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned
by Novi Digital Entertainment of Star India and operated by Disney
Media and Entertainment Distribution, both divisions of The Walt
Disney Company.

The brand was first introduced as Hotstar, for a streaming service

carrying content from Star India's local networks, including films,
television series, live sports, and original programming, as well as
featuring content licensed from third-parties such as HBO and
Showtime among others. Amid the significant growth of mobile
broadband in India, Hotstar quickly became the dominant streaming
service in the country.

Following the acquisition of Star India's parent company 21st Century

Fox by Disney in 2019, Hotstar was integrated with the company's new
global streaming brand Disney+ as Disney+ Hotstar in April 2020. The
co-branded service added Disney+ original programming, and films and
television series from its main content brands of Walt Disney Studios,
Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and National Geographic alongside the
domestic and third-party content already carried on the platform.

Outside of India, the Disney+ Hotstar service also operates in Indonesia,

Malaysia, and Thailand, which similarly combines entertainment
content licensed from local, third-party studios, with the larger Disney+
library. Disney+ Hotstar is also expected to launch in the Philippines and
Vietnam in 2022. In Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the
United States, Hotstar operates as a streaming service targeting
overseas Indians, focusing on Star India's domestic entertainment and
sports content; Disney+ operates as a standalone service in these
markets. In 2021, Disney announced that it would discontinue the U.S.
version of Hotstar in November 2021, in favour of adding its content to
the domestic Hulu and ESPN+ services instead.

History

Star India officially launched Hotstar on 11 February 2015 after fifteen

months of development, coinciding with the 2015 Cricket World Cup
and upcoming 2015 Indian Premier League (for which Star had acquired
the streaming rights). The ad-supported service initially featured a
library of over 35,000 hours of content in seven regional languages, as
well as live streaming coverage of sports such as football and kabaddi,
and cricket on a delay. Star CEO Sanjay Gupta felt that there "[weren't]
many platforms available to Indian consumers offering high-quality,
curated content besides, say, YouTube", and explained that the service
would appeal most prominently to the growing young adult
demographic, and feature "very targeted" advertising. He estimated
that by 2020, the service could account for nearly a quarter of Star's
annual revenue.[3][4]

Hotstar generated at least 345 million views throughout the 2015

Cricket World Cup, and approximately over 200 million views during the
2015 Indian Premier League season.[5][6] In April 2016, Hotstar
launched a subscription tier primarily oriented towards international
content and the possibility of premium sports content. The service
launched alongside a new deal to carry HBO content uncut on the
platform, with its introduction coinciding with the season 6 premiere of
Game of Thrones.[7]

The 2016 launch of the LTE-only wireless carrier Jio spurred the growth
of mobile broadband in India, and was credited in turn for having
bolstered the growth of streaming video in the country. While services
of US origin such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix saw some growth
in the Indian market, Hotstar has remained the dominant streaming
service.[8] By July 2017, Hotstar's apps had reached 300 million
downloads, and it was reported as being the top video streaming app in
the country.[9][10]

In May 2018, it was reported that the service had 75–100 million active
users per-month.[11] In September 2018, Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan left
to become the vice-president and managing director of Facebook India.
[12] That month, it was reported that the service had begun to
restructure its leadership to have separate executives for its ad-
supported and premium services, and, aided by new funding from Star
US Holdings, planned to increase its production of premium original
content to better-compete with Amazon and Netflix, amidst concerns
that the service was beginning to haemorrhage cash.[13]
By 2019, the service had over 150 million active users monthly. In
March 2019, ahead of the 2019 Indian Premier League, Hotstar
migrated existing subscribers of its All Annual Sports plan to a new
entry-level plan known as Hotstar VIP. Intended as an introductory
option, it includes access to sports content (including the IPL, 2019
Cricket World Cup, and English Premier League football), early access to
serials before their television broadcast, and original series from the
new Hotstar Specials banner. It is also payable via cash. Chief product
officer Varun Narang described the offering as "a value proposition built
with the Indian audience at the heart of it".[14]

The 2019 Indian Premier League repeatedly broke records for

concurrent viewership on Hotstar, with the 2019 final setting a new
"global record" peak of 18.6 million. US website TechCrunch credited
these gains to the extensive growth of internet usage in the country.
[15] This was surpassed during the semi-final of the 2019 Cricket World
Cup between India and New Zealand, with 25.3 million. After the India-
Pakistan match earlier in the tournament, Hotstar surpassed almost
100 million daily users.

Acquisition by Disney, integration with Disney+

Star, and in turn Hotstar, were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in
2019, as part of its acquisition of their US parent company 21st Century
Fox.[17][18]

During a February 2020 earnings call, Iger announced that its recently
launched international streaming brand Disney+ and its original
programming would be integrated into Hotstar as part of a re-launch on
29 March 2020. Iger stated that the service's launch,—originally
scheduled to coincide with the opening of the 2020 Indian Premier
League, would take advantage of Hotstar's "proven platform" and
existing customer base. The Motley Fool described Hotstar as being
Disney's "secret weapon" in the market, due to its already-dominant
position.[19][17][18]

Hotstar began to soft launch the expanded service for some users in
March. On 20 March 2020, in recognition of the COVID-19 pandemic
and associated postponement of the IPL season, Disney announced that
it had postponed the launch to 3 April.[20][21] The service officially
launched with a "virtual red carpet premiere" of The Lion King and
Disney+ series The Mandalorian, featuring actors Rana Daggubati,
Katrina Kaif, Shraddha Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, and Tiger Shroff
participating in live interactions.[22] The price of the Hotstar Premium
service was also increased with the launch.[23]

On 2 May 2020, Star announced that it would distribute the service for
free to migrant workers in Singapore through 21 July, to improve
morale amid their impact from COVID-19.[24] In June 2020, Hotstar
named Sunil Rayan, formerly of Google, as its new president

Content
Further information on Hotstar original programming: List of
Hotstar original programming and original films
Further information on Disney+ original programming: List of
Disney+ original programming and original films
Further information on Star original programming and
international distribution: List of Disney+ Star and Star+ original
programming
Disney+ Hotstar's content library draws from Star India's
television networks, including its entertainment networks and
Star Sports.[26][27][28] Imported content is drawn primarily
from Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Television, and
includes Disney+ original programming and the core Disney+
libraries of Disney (including Pixar), Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm
(including the Star Wars franchises), and National Geographic.
[22][23] It also holds licensing agreements with other third-
party content providers,[26][27][28] such as streaming rights to
first-run and library programming from HBO.[29]

In July 2017, Hotstar gained domestic streaming rights to first-

run and library programming from Showtime.[30] Rights to new
Showtime content later moved to Viacom18's Voot (a sister of
Showtime via parent company ViacomCBS).[31] In October
2018, Hotstar partnered with Hooq to offer its content on its
premium service, including rights to films and series from its co-
owners Sony Pictures and Warner Bros., as well as its other
content partners.[32] The partnership ended following Hooq's
liquidation in April 2020.[33]

Some early original content on the service included the news

comedy program On Air With AIB, and CinePlay. In March 2019,
the service launched a new premium original content brand,
Hotstar Specials, with the first production being Roar of the
Lion—a docudrama miniseries chronicling the Chennai Super
Kings in the 2018 Indian Premier League. Hotstar stated that
these series would be at least six episodes in length, be
available in seven regional languages (Bengali, Hindi, Kannada,
Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu)[34] and focus on
providing "big-scale, high-quality drama". Hotstar partnered
with a large number of Indian filmmakers to produce series for
the brand.[35][36][37]

In June 2020, Hotstar announced that it would begin to offer

direct-to-streaming premieres of Indian films under the
"Disney+ Hotstar Multiplex" banner due to COVID-19-related
cinema closures, beginning with Fox Star Studios' Dil Bechara
on 24 July 2020, followed by The Big Bull, Lootcase, Khuda
Haafiz, Laxmii, Bhuj: The Pride of India, Sadak 2, and Mookuthi
Amman
Device support and service features
Hotstar is available for streaming via supported web browsers,
smartphones and tablet computers, as well as apps on digital
media players and smart TVs.

Hotstar allows users to stream on up to four devices

concurrently depending on plan, and downloads for offline
viewing depending on individual content licenses. Most content
is able to be streamed in resolutions up to 1080p. In April 2020,
Hotstar started rolling out Dolby Digital 5.1 sound on Android
TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, Fire HD, and Roku,[39] and later 4K with
HDR in August 2020, initially for Apple TV and Android TV
devices.[40]

In India, the service was previously offered with "VIP" and

"Premium" subscription tiers, which were differentiated by
their content libraries (with the Premium tier featuring more
premium international series and films). In September 2021,
Hotstar introduced a new plan structure based on device
support and concurrent streams (more akin to that of Netflix),
with "Mobile" allowing a single stream on a mobile device only,
"Super" allowing streams on up to two devices simultaneously,
and "Premium" allowing streaming on up to four devices
simultaneously, and with 4K support. Under the new plan
structure, the same content library became available to all
Disney+ Hotstar subscribers regardless of tier

International versions
North America and the United Kingdom
On 4 September 2017, Star Sports acquired the entirety of the
media rights to the Indian Premier League, with Hotstar acting
as the international digital rightsholder. Hotstar launched an
international subscription service in Canada and the United
States, aimed towards providing its domestic Indian content
and sports.[43][44] Hotstar launched in the United Kingdom on
13 September 2018, to coincide with the 2018 Asia Cup.[45] On
4 January 2019, Star discontinued their international linear pay
television channels in the US. (such as StarPlus), pivoting its
focus in the region to Hotstar.[46] On 31 August 2021, Disney
announced that the U.S. version of Hotstar would be
discontinued by late-2022, and that its sports and
entertainment content would be folded into its domestic
services ESPN+ and Hulu respectively beginning 1 September.
Annual subscribers who had not yet subscribed to Disney's
streaming services were provided with an offer to receive the
Disney+/ESPN+/Hulu bundle at no cost for the remainder of
their Hotstar subscription period.[47] The shutdown was later
scheduled for 30 November 2021
Southeast Asia
In August 2019, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that plans were in
place for expansion of Hotstar into Southeast Asia.[49] In
August 2020, it was announced that Disney+ Hotstar would
launch in Indonesia on 5 September 2020, marking the unified
service's first expansion outside of India.[50] On 19 October
2020, Star India announced the launch of Hotstar in Singapore,
which took place on 1 November 2020.[51] On 25 February
2021, it was reported that Disney+ Hotstar would launch in
Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand in between 2021 and
2022.[52] The service launched in Malaysia on 1 June 2021,[53]
and Thailand on 30 June.[54] The launch date for the
Philippines has yet to be announced, tentatively by early 2022.
[55] Later on, there was a report stating the service is expected
to launch in the Philippines and Vietnam in 2022.[56]

In addition to content from Disney's library, the Southeast

Asian versions of Disney+ Hotstar also had a large focus on
domestic acquisitions. In Indonesia, Hotstar reached content
supply agreements with studios such as Falcon Pictures, MD
Pictures, Rapi Films, Soraya Intercine Films, Screenplay Films,
and Starvision Plus among others, and also acquired first-run
direct-to-streaming releases (which are being marketed as
Hotstar Originals). To appeal to the local Hindu population, the
service also carries Bollywood films subtitled and/or dubbed
into the Indonesian language.[57][58]

The Malaysian version of the service has similarly reached deals

with studios such as Skop Productions, Revolution Media Films,
Primeworks Studios, WAU Animation, Act 2 Pictures, Les’
Copaque Production and Red Films to carry films on the
platform, with some being released direct-to-streaming.[53]
The Thai version reached agreements with studios and
broadcasters such as GDH, GMM 25, Kantana Group, One 31,
and Sahamongkolfilm, and has licensed content from other East
Asian regions such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea,
and Taiwan.[59][60]

In January 2022, Disney+ Hotstar announced that it had

acquired rights to WWE Network in Indonesia, with its content
and live events, including their pay-per-view events (now called
as "premium live event"), streaming on the service at no
additional cost. Their coverage starting with Royal Rumble on
the 30th of that month

Launch as Disney+ Hotstar

Release Date Country/Territory Release Partner
11 February 2015[c][3]
3 April 2020[d]
India None
5 September 2020[50] Indonesia
Telkomsel
Telkom Indonesia[62]
1 June 2021[53] Malaysia Astro
30 June 2021[54] Thailand AIS[59]
Early 2022[55] Philippines
Mid 2022[56] Vietnam
Launch as Hotstar
Release Date Country/Territory Release Partner
4 September 2017[44] Canada None
United States Hulu[e]
13 September 2018[45] United Kingdom None
1 November 2020[51] Singapore StarHub
Censorship
The HBO series Last Week Tonight faced several
instances of censorship on Hotstar since the purchase of
the service by Disney; two episodes were edited to
remove jokes referencing Disney characters, including a
November 2019 episode on the US census relating to a
PSA featuring Mickey Mouse (where Oliver claimed the
character was a "crack addict"; a scene was also cropped
to obscure a graphic relating to the joke),[63] and a
remark about Donald Duck's penis being "shaped like a
corkscrew" during an episode discussing China's one-
child policy.[64][65] In February 2020, Hotstar refused to
carry an episode that contained segments critical of
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, which had alleged
that his policy of Hindu nationalism was a growing threat
to democracy in India.[66][67][68]

The programme's host John Oliver addressed all three

instances of censorship by Hotstar in the 8 March 2020
episode. He placed a larger emphasis on the censorship
of Disney references, however (alluding to his role of
Zazu in Disney's 2019 CGI remake of The Lion King),
jokingly arguing that he resented the censorship of his
"factually accurate" Donald Duck joke more than the
Modi episode being pulled.[64][65]

The service was highly criticised and ridiculed upon its

launch in Thailand for the censorship and editing of
Disney content, where violent and/or suggestive scenes
were cut out or blurred, with a majority of titles being
cropped to fit 16:9 widescreen televisions and/or also
sped up to 25 frames per second (PAL).[69] On 14 July
2021, during a live podcast hosted by Thai news reporter
Jomquan Laopetch, Disney Southeast Asia and Thailand
general manager, direct-to-consumer Winradit
Kolasastraseni stated that he was aware of the issues and
admitted they were the QC team's fault; the service has
been replacing censored/edited video files with their
original cuts since then
See also
Star, a similar streaming brand used by Disney for
general entertainment content in other markets, which is
offered within the Disney+ infrastructure.
Star+, a sister streaming service using a similar brand
owned and operated by Disney for general
entertainment content in Latin America markets.
Notes