Disney’s Hotstar sets world streaming record for India vs Pakistan cricket match

Image credits: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images

Few events in India attract as much attention as a cricket match. The high-profile match between neighboring India and Pakistan brought much-needed respite to Disney Hotstar, which has lost more than 20 million subscribers in the past three quarters. Company executives are expected to ramp up efforts to find a buyer for the India business soon.

Disney’s Hotstar on Saturday drew 35 million concurrent viewers to a cricket match, reclaiming the world record for on-demand video streaming.

The milestone surpasses the recent record of 32 million viewers set by Viacom18’s JioCinema, which was backed by Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. This record was for streaming cricket matches as well as several other records won by Hotstar in the last five years.

Disney has surpassed global giants with five-year streaming rights to the cricket tournament IPL, offering free streaming of ICC World Cup cricket matches to mobile viewers in India in a bid to compete with the rapidly gaining popularity of Viacom. ing.

“We would like to thank all the fans who tuned in to watch the India vs Pakistan match on Disney+ Hotstar. Thanks to your love for the game, Disney+ Hotstar has broken previous records across all cricket formats and increased the number of simultaneous viewers. We have reached a peak of 3.5 billion users,” Sajith Sivanandan, head of Disney+ Hotstar India, said in a statement.

“As competitive cricket continues, we continue to honor our commitment to providing an unparalleled viewing experience for all our users.As the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup unfolds, we will We look forward to doing more.”

The recall of Vanity Metrics is a relief for Disney as its management looks for a buyer for Star India, which controls Hotstar. Top Indian executives are scheduled to fly to the U.S. headquarters to finalize the fate of Disney’s India operations shortly after the ongoing Cricket World Cup concludes next month, two people familiar with the matter said. told TechCrunch.

The company has held preliminary talks in recent weeks with several companies, including Indian conglomerate Reliance, and several large private equity firms to drum up interest in the India business, which was the crown jewel of Fox’s portfolio when Disney acquired it. It’s here.

But Star India’s fortunes have changed in recent years amid weak market conditions and Mr. Ambani’s aggressive move to poach several Star India executives to lead Viacom18. Viacom18 counts Bodhi Tree, run by former Fox executive Uday Shankar and James Murdoch, among its key backers.

Disney has high hopes for the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup. According to a 53-page internal slide reviewed by TechCrunch, the global streamer told marketers that the tournament could reach more than 50 million concurrent viewers and that India’s annual total video content during the roughly 50-day series They estimate that they will be able to reach 82% of users. .