One of the most prominent names in the Indian OTT space might cease to exist in the coming months.
The Disney+Hotstar app could be shut down and merged into JioCinema, Economic Times reports. Reliance and Disney had decided to merge their media assets in India in February this year, which meant that Disney+Hotstar and JioCinema would be controlled by the same business entity. But instead of running both apps, the combined entity could decide to shut down the Disney+Hotstar app, and merge its content library within JioCinema.
This would mean that the Disney+Hotstar brand would be discarded, even though it’s the bigger app at the moment — JioCinema has an average monthly reach of 225 million users, while Disney+Hotstar has around 333 million active users. Disney+Hotstar also has more downloads than JioCinema as well, and had created many global streaming records during cricket matches. And Disney+Hotstar might have a lot more brand recall, given how it’s been around since 2015, while JioCinema only went mainstream for the first time in 2022 when it streamed the football world cup.
But it likely wouldn’t make sense for the combined entity to run two competing streaming apps, and it would want to bring them under one umbrella. Together, the two could becoming a formidable streaming powerhouse, with Hotstar’s catalogue of Star’s shows and international hits, and JioCinema’s own specials and shows from HBO and Peacock. The two apps would also jointly hold the broadcast rights for most major cricket tournaments in the world.
Disney+Hotstar and JioCinema, once bitter rivals, find themselves in the same camp after Reliance and Disney had agreed to merge their media assets in India. As part of the merger, Reliance would hold 64 percent of the combined entity, while Disney would hold 36 percent. The entity was valued at $8.5 billion, and included 115 TV channels, 77 of Star’s and 38 of Viacom 18’s, as well as streaming platforms Disney+Hotstar and JioCinema.
It could be bit of a masterstroke for Disney and JioCinema to be merged into a single app. Currently both apps have separate content libraries, which means that neither app provides an irresistible option for viewers. With both apps coming under the same umbrella, it’s more likely that most people will find some must-see content within their combined portfolio, and decide to subscribe. Also, JioCinema had been streaming cricket for free since its launch, and Disney+Hotstar had had no choice but to follow suit. But with the reduced competition, JioCinema can comfortably begin charging for cricket streaming, and with most broadcast rights under its belt, can bring the app paid users by the bucketloads.
But there’s something that can pop this party — the Competition Commission of India. If a business deal seems too good to be true, the CCI does tend to step in, and it’s already said that the merger of Reliance and Disney could reduce competition in the broadcast space. It remains to be seen how Reliance deals with these regulatory issues, but if it can have its way, it could end up creating a massive money-spinner in India’s content space.