In an effort to compete with Mukesh Ambani’s JioCinema’s expansion in the country, Disney+ Hotstar said on Friday that the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup tournaments will be made available as free-to-view to all mobile phone customers who access their programme.
The decision by Disney+Hotstar comes as Asia’s richest person, Mukesh Ambani, has been staking heavily on live streaming of sports fixtures in recent months.
Sajith Sivanandan, head of Disney+Hotstar told Exchange4 Media, ” Disney+Hotstar has remained at the forefront of the rapidly evolving OTT industry in India and the various innovations we have introduced to continue enhancing the viewer experience has allowed us to delight our audiences across the region. Making the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup available to a wider audience, we believe, will help us to grow the overall eco-system”.
Newly launched JioCinema, the streaming service led by Ambanis, netted a record number of viewers for the Indian Premier League final in 2023. JioCinema, which was the official streaming partner of the IPL 2023, offered free streaming of the cricket tournament.
For around $2.9 billion, Reliance’s Viacom18 acquired the IPL digital streaming rights from 2023 to 2027, which were previously held by Disney.
Ambani’s media company outbid rivals such as Disney to secure the internet rights to the Indian Premier League. In India, Disney is now seeing a drop in paid subscribers.
Ambani’s conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. aspires to be a global media behemoth, and JioCinema has already begun charging for content after acquiring rights to HBO and Warner Bros Discovery Inc. shows as it competes in the massive Indian market with Walt Disney Co. and Netflix Inc.