New Delhi: ICC World Cup 2023, has come up as a huge success for Disney+ Hotstar, as they are setting new records every day with the live World Cup matches.
Before the World Cup, they decided to provide free streaming of the World Cup matches for mobile app users, which has worked as a lucky charm for the platform.
Disney+ Hotstar sets a new all-time highest concurrent viewership record with 4.4 crore people watching the India vs South Africa match when Virat Kohli completed his 49th ODI ton.
Record-breaking run
With this, Disney+ Hotstar has broken its all-time concurrent digital viewership record three times within a month.
It first broke the record when it recorded 3.5 crore concurrent viewers on 14 October during the India vs Pakistan match. Then it broke the record with 4.3 crore viewership during India vs New Zealand, and finally, the third time on Sunday, when it recorded 4.4 crore concurrent viewership.
King Kohli effect
The record concurrent viewership for Disney+ Hotstar on Sunday can very well be a result of the Virat Kohli effect, as the viewership actually peeked during the latter part of Virat’s innings and was highest when King Kohli was celebrating his historic 49th ODI cricket century.
Virat Kohli 101(120)* vs South Africa CWC 2023 ( Ball by Ball highlights)#ViratKohli #HappyBirthdayKingKohli #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/yB2XKCPYq7
— Kohlisexual 🇮🇳 (@Kohlisexual0511) November 6, 2023
Last chance of redemption for Disney+ Hotstar
Walt Disney-backed Disney+ Hotstar was launched in India first on February 11, 2015, as just Hotstar by Star India, as they were home to all the highest-grossing TV Shows of India as well as the streaming rights for all the major tournaments around the world.
It enjoyed a great run on its own, and due to its success and potential, it was acquired by Walt Disney in 2019 and got its present-day name, Disney+ Hotstar.
And Jio Cinema premium is here..
HBO Max and Warner Bros. content now live on @JioCinema. pic.twitter.com/tSEHSWLCLo
— CinemaRare (@CinemaRareIN) May 13, 2023
However, they are struggling a lot to keep their position in the market, due to losing rights to several major sporting events, and famous English shows to their rival Jio Cinema, so much so that their number of total paid subscribers has fallen from 6.1 crore to 4.1 crore in 6 months.
Kapil Dev on Hotstar Ad for World Cup.
– Hotstar will be streaming World Cup for free….!!!!pic.twitter.com/qxg9hrsTLV
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 26, 2023
The free streaming of World Cup 2023 and Asia Cup was their last hope to get their audience back, and so it now seems to be a huge success for the OTT platform as they are making new records of all-time viewership almost every 2 weeks of time.
But how long the effects of this World Cup will last on the OTT Platform will also be a huge question in the upcoming days.
