Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/06\/09\/disney-hotstar-free-mobile-cricket-streaming-jiocinema\/<\/a><\/br>
\nDisney\u2019s Hotstar to offer free mobile cricket streaming in India to take on Reliance\u2019s JioCinema<\/br>
\n2023-06-09 21:58:29<\/br><\/p>\n

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Disney\u2019s Hotstar<\/a> will offer free streaming of cricket tournaments to mobile users in India, following Reliance\u2019s JioCinema comparable approach that helped it attract millions of viewers.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Disney+ Hotstar announced it would lift the paywall on the Asia Cup and ICC Men\u2019s Cricket World Cup live streams to let all mobile viewers watch these two tournaments for free in the cricket-loving country.<\/p>\n

The move comes just days after JioCinema broke Hotstar\u2019s long-standing record<\/a> of concurrent views. JioCinema reached more than 32 million simultaneous viewers for the finale of the 16th edition of the Indian Cricket League (IPL) cricket tournament last week, much more than Hotstar\u2019s previous record of 25 million concurrent views. Reliance\u2019s platform provided free cricket streaming to its users, contributing to the new record.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking the Asia Cup and ICC Men\u2019s Cricket World Cup available to a wider audience, we believe, will help us grow the overall eco-system,\u201d said Sajith Sivanandan, Head of Disney+ Hotstar, in a prepared statement.<\/p>\n

Disney+ Hotstar lost its streaming rights for IPL matches<\/a> to JioCinema last year for five years until 2027. Due to the shift, the latter started streaming the cricket tournament for free this year.<\/p>\n

JioCinema\u2019s winning of IPL\u2019s rights has adversely impacted Hotstar \u2014 India is its largest market with about 53 million subscribers. The platform has lost 8.4 million subscribers since October<\/a> last year, with a significant drop of 4.6 million subscribers alone in the quarter that ended in March, according to Disney\u2019s recent earnings. Its average revenue per subscriber also declined to 59 cents from 74 cents in the March quarter.<\/p>\n

Viacom18, which owns JioCinema and counts James Murdoch\u2019s Bodhi Tree among its key investors, recently announced partnerships with international entertainment giants Warner Bros.<\/a> and NBCUniversal<\/a> to expand the catalog available on JioCinema\u2019s streaming platform. JioCinema also recently introduced a premium plan to serve international content at around $12 (999 Indian rupees) per year. The platform has, however, not yet announced its plans to offer cricket streaming under its paid tier.<\/p>\n

That said, Hotstar\u2019s play with free mobile cricket streaming could help the platform grab some attention from JioCinema and grow its viewers, as well as generate some revenue from local ads.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Science, Tech, Technology<\/br>
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\nSource:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/06\/09\/disney-hotstar-free-mobile-cricket-streaming-jiocinema\/<\/a><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/06\/09\/disney-hotstar-free-mobile-cricket-streaming-jiocinema\/ Disney\u2019s Hotstar to offer free mobile cricket streaming in India to take on Reliance\u2019s JioCinema 2023-06-09 21:58:29 Disney\u2019s Hotstar will offer free streaming of cricket tournaments to mobile users in India, following Reliance\u2019s JioCinema comparable approach that helped it attract millions of viewers. On Friday, Disney+ Hotstar announced it would lift the paywall on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,17,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-tech","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\n