Disney’s online streaming service called Disney+ was launched in November 2019 and will be officially coming to India on March 29. After confirmation by Disney CEO Robert Iger of the launch, Disney+ is going to rebrand as a part of Hotstar.
The CEO said the move to come to India is happening just before the Indian Premier League (IPL) goes live. The rebranding of existing Hotstar VIP and Premium subscriptions will be directed towards Disney Plus Hotstar.
Disney+ is a premium online streaming platform that will be providing exclusive Disney content and also produce original content on the platform. They are already attracting attention for ‘The Mandalorian’ which is a live-action Star Wars series. Subscribers to this platform will able to stream concurrently 4 times, have unlimited downloads and also have a set up for Kids profile allowing parents to monitor age-appropriate content.
Disney+ is currently live in the markets of the US, Canada, and the Netherlands priced at $6.99 per month in the US. They plan to launch operations in other international markets in March itself with their service going live in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Austria.
Hotstar has already been a successful streaming platform that provides Marvel movies and content which is exclusive to Disney. With Disney+ becoming a part of Hotstar, more such content coming to the platform is expected.
This rebranding brings to light the cost that would change once Disney+ becomes available on Hotstar. Currently, Hotstar is priced at Rs. 999 a year or Rs. 299 per month and with this merger of Disney+, there is likely to be a change in cost. Competitor platform Netflix is priced at the highest at the moment, 199 per month for mobile, and a premium plan for Rs 799 per month and Amazon Prime is at Rs 999 a year with a lot content benefits.
For Disney+, the biggest advantage would be the streaming of the extremely popular franchises of Marvel, Star Wars and children’s movies such as Lion King. They will be streaming kid-friendly content which means no R-rated content will be allowed on the platform.
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