Disney+ to launch in India on March 29, 2020 with Basic and Premium Plans

Disney+ to launch in India on March 29, 2020 with Basic and Premium Plans

February 13, 2020 – Disney+ will be launched in India on March 29, Disney CEO Robert Iger said in Disney’s earnings call on February 4. It will be offered through Hotstar by rebranding Hotstar’s VIP and Premium subscriptions tiers to Disney+ Hotstar, which will be a “bundled” product. At present, Hotstar Premium is available for ₹299/month and ₹999/year. Hotstar VIP is available for ₹365/year. Please note that Hotstar is owned by Star which is a subsidiary of Disney.

Disney+ was launched in November 2019 and is currently available in USA, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Canada. Although there are no “encumbrances” in the rest of the world, lower broadband penetration in certain regions, including India, means that the total market is not available, Iger said during the earnings call. Note that India has over 635 million Internet connections, around 80% of which are broadband.

Content: The complete Disney library will be available to Indian users, including content from Twenty-First Century Fox (which Disney acquired in March 2019). Although HBO is owned by Warner, since Hotstar has exclusive streaming contract with it, HBO’s original programming will also be available.

Disney is betting on international markets for growth: In addition to India, Disney+ will be launched in UK and Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Austria on March 24 and in Belgium, Portugal and the Nordics in summer. Iger said that most “two-thirds” of subscribers are expected to come from these markets.

Paid subscribers: 26.5 million at end of December 2019; as of February 5, it had 28.6 million paid subscribers. Roughly 50% came directly from disneyplus.com, 20% from Verizon, Iger revealed during the earnings call.

ARPU: $5.56 on a $6.99 monthly subscription

Direct-to-consumer and International which includes Disney+, Hotstar and Hulu, accounted for $3.99 billion (from 0.9 billion in December 2018 quarter) of the total Disney revenues. Segment operating loss increased from $136 million to $693 million due to launch of Disney+, consolidation of Hulu and higher loss at ESPN+. Income from Twenty-First Century Fox businesses, including Star which owns Hotstar, partially offset this loss.

Source: Medianama, Disney+

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