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So, the fusion of giants just arrived- with the merging of Disney Hotstar with the Jio Cinema App. Yes, we didn’t expect it, yet it happened, on our televisions, in our homes. While it’s a great thing to see two good OTT platforms combining, it also raises some questions- what made them do it? How come Disney and Hotstar joined hands with Jio? To know it all, we shall need to explore the curious Hotstar Case Study.
How did it start?
Disney+, a well-known video streaming service, successfully entered the Western market before focussing on India, one of the world’s biggest markets. Disney merged its Disney+ product to become Disney+ Hotstar in India after acquiring Hotstar, one of the most well-known domestic streaming services in the nation. Disney+ Hotstar provides a wide range of options for every viewer, including beloved Marvel flicks, entertaining Pixar pictures, and exciting regional productions.
Early Rise and Accomplishments
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In 2015, Hotstar made its debut as a way for Star to distribute programming from its different regional TV stations. It also functioned as a venue for sports fans to watch games. In retrospect, the service was introduced during the Australian Cricket World Cup in 2015.
One of the main draws for Hotstar viewers was cricket. Because Star also had the streaming rights for the very famous Indian Premier League (IPL), the platform further solidified its position and appeal to cricket fans. According to reports, the app received over 200 million views during the 2015 IPL, indicating its success. Throughout the corresponding IPL seasons, the opinions kept expanding.
The IPL’s streaming rights were owned by Hotstar until last year.
In addition to cricket aficionados, other sports fans also visited Hotstar. Formula 1 fans could use the app to watch their favorite racers compete on Grand Prix weekends, while football fans could watch the English Premier League.
Major Failure
In India, Disney+ Hotstar has established itself as the premier source for major sports content. However, the platform suffered its first setback last year when Viacom 18, led by Mukesh Ambani, paid an incredible INR 23,758 crores to acquire the IPL digital rights. Disney+ Hotstar was unable to stream IPL matches from 2023 to 2027 due to the loss of digital rights, even if Disney Star still has the TV rights. As a result, Disney+ Hotstar saw a significant decline in subscriptions, losing 3.8 million users between October 2022 and December 2022.
Disney+ Hotstar no longer has the rights, hence the 2023 Formula One season started without any streaming. F1 TV, the official racing streaming service, is now available for fans to watch the races. Disney+ Hotstar, which was formerly regarded as the top source for sports content, was severely impacted by both losses.
What was lacking as compared to other OTTs
Disney+ Hotstar was proud of having TV series and films that are comparable to Netflix’s and Amazon Prime Video’s selections on the global stage. The same cannot be said for Hotstar’s regional programming, though.
Netflix is a huge hit when it comes to popular Indian series, including Sacred Games, Delhi Crime, Kota Factory, Mismatched, Little Things, and more. The same is true of Prime Video, which features series like Panchayat, Laakhon Mein Ek, Breathe, Made in Heaven, The Family Man, Paatal Lok, Mirzapur, and others.
However, Disney+ Hotstar’s original programming, referred to as Hotstar Specials, has not yet achieved success. The recently released Taaza Khabar and The Night Manager, as well as Special OPS and Aarya, have had some success on the site, but they haven’t achieved the same level of popularity as their Netflix and Amazon Prime Video equivalents.
Technical Constraints of Disney Hotstar Case Study
Disney+ Hotstar was not as good at live streaming as sites like JioCinema and Sony LIV. It is also important to note that 4K and 60 FPS sports feeds are not available on their most costly levels. Additionally, with a variety of camera options and high-quality resolution available for free to Reliance Jio consumers, the Ambani-owned JioCinema is poised to improve sports streaming.
Additionally, Disney+ Hotstar’s user interface hasn’t altered much since the streaming service’s debut. Two years after Disney+ Hotstar rebranded, Hotstar X saw its most recent redesign. There have also been occasional problems with the app, the most significant of which occurred last month when the platform as a whole briefly fell. Twitter users asserted that Disney+ Hotstar’s failure to renew their domain was the reason for this downtime. Ultimately, it’s reasonable to conclude that Disney+ Hotstar’s streaming service isn’t the greatest in India.
According to reports, Disney+ Hotstar would have lost 15 million users as a result of the recent removal of HBO content and the lack of IPL content. In the upcoming months, this figure may increase even more if the platform experience and content lineup don’t undergo some significant modifications.
The rise of Hotstar
Before merging with Jio, the team of Disney Hotstar gave enough consideration to their platform and app, resolving technical issues to the core. The Hotstar team created a new version of their app with improved architecture and more features to scale and boost watch time, which is their primary performance indicator. They did, however, want to evaluate every new feature before introducing the most interesting ones in a way that wouldn’t interfere with users. They discovered that the in-house APIs they were initially employing to set up these trials were insufficiently flexible. Moving to a comprehensive platform with proven solutions was another goal they had.
The Hotstar team tested several onboarding user interfaces using Firebase A/B testing. The findings showed that when users were prompted to choose a language during onboarding instead of a nation, their watch time increased.
Additionally, Hotstar added gamification and a new emoji feature to its watch screen without compromising stability by utilizing Firebase Remote Config, Google Analytics for Firebase, and Firebase Crashlytics. Initially, the group used Remote Config to distribute these modifications to a select group of users. Then, they monitored problems in Crashlytics, which revealed that low-end devices experienced a lot of crashes. The group got right to work. They used conditional targeting in Remote Config to build a Firebase ‘audience’ of users on low-end devices and disable the new feature for them. The fact that Hotstar accomplished all of this without releasing a new build is impressive.
Hotstar was able to refresh its watch screen, protect consumers from a flawed experience, and lessen the strain on its APIs through trials and controlled feature rollouts. Their statistics showed that these adjustments significantly reduced app starting time from 8s to 3s and boosted daily watch time by 38%.
The recent merger with Jio-a match made in heaven
Due to its setbacks and future orientations, Disney has recently joined hands with Jio to form a single platform. The JioHotstar platform, which combines Reliance and Disney, is currently operational and live.
JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar’s content catalogs are combined into one new streaming service. In addition to content from major international studios like Disney, Warner Bros., HBO, NBCUniversal Peacock, and Paramount, this merger unites India’s most valuable sports rights, such as the English Premier League, Indian Premier League, and International Cricket Council tournaments, under one roof.
However, what happens to JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar’s current users? From now on,
users are unable to use the JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar applications or websites independently as a result of the app merger. As a result, you will now be taken to the new JioHotstar website anytime you attempt to access these websites independently.
The Disney+ Hotstar app has already been updated to include the new JioHotstar appearance for customers who already have it installed on their phones. The unified JioHotstar app will open when you tap on it.
Users having the JioCinema app installed on their phones, however, will be able to view the app in its original state with a banner urging users to “Watch on JioHotstar.” Additionally, any content that you click on will be instantly redirected to the JioHotstar app and begin to display the same on the new app.
What happens to current JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar subscribers?
Current JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar users can keep their current plans and perks, but they will now have to use JioHotstar. All material will be diverted to JioHotstar, although JioCinema subscribers will still be able to access the app. Those who now have JioCinema subscriptions will have to either move to the new platform or wait until their contract expires. As a result, users of both services will be able to use JioHotstar for free until the end of their plan and will not lose their existing memberships.
Conclusion
Believe it or not, Hotstar has come a long way. Though the company has grown multifolds, its objectives and goals are still high. Merger with Jio comes as a surprisingly advantageous move for the company. We can expect more OTT delight, thanks to the fusion of the three giants i.e. Disney, Hotstar, and Jio. We hope you enjoyed reading this Disney Hotstar Case Study.
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