Disney+ Hotstar today announced that it will stream Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup free of cost on mobile phones. With this move, the company wants to attract more users in the cricket-crazy country.
The company took this decision to fight well against JioCinema which recently streamed the highly popular Indian Premier League. JioCinema also clocked 44.9 crore viewers during IPL. It also registered over 3.2 crore viewers during the IPL final.
“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 grow the overall eco-system,” said Sajith Sivanandan, Head Disney+ Hotstar.
Most people buy Disney+ Hotstar subscriptions for cricket streaming. Disney+ Hotstar couldn’t stream IPL this year and it also lost HBO content. Research firm CLSA estimated that the platform lost nearly 5 million users.
Over the years, Disney+ Hotstar became popular in India for cricket streaming. Most people tune in to Disney+ Hotstar whenever they want to watch Indian cricket matches. Now that JioCimena has entered the space, Disney+ Hotstar is facing tough competition.
