Hotstar Beats All Streaming Channels

Disney+ Hotstar, which happens to be a video streaming service owned by Walt Disney, led the premium video in demand (VoD) category in terms of consumption in India in the year 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. It topped the list of streaming channels in FY 2022 in India.

There was 38% viewership that included sports and Hindi regional entertainment. On the other hand, the Sony-Zee group had a 13% premium VoD share in comparison with other platforms, largely due to strong engagement across sports, regional, local, and international content.

The findings from a report titled Indian Online Video Report: Analysis of Consumption, Content & Investment Trends by Media Partners Asia (MPA), an independent research provider that provides consulting services to media and telecom sectors. For this purpose, they measured real consumption on Android, iOS, and computers in 2022 and three months in 2023.

However, Jio took the cake from the beginning of Q2 due to the live streaming of IPL matches. During this time, the consumption of Jio Cinema increased by around 20 times. Incidentally, Prime Video’s 60% viewership is thanks to local content, and Netflix’s viewership was 24% due to US’ major titles. Meanwhile, YouTube’s share stood at 88%.

Industry experts say the next six months will be crucial for the industry as they will focus on monetization and profitability as opposed to content investment. In this context, Disney+ Hotstar boasts of a strong local market powered by Star’s Hindi and regional content depth.

As for Jio, the going is good during the IPL season, but once that ends, it will make use of local content and premium international content to set the stage for its growth into the premium segment.