The party for all Disney+ Hotstar users has finally come to an end. The existing jaw-dropping subscription charges of Disney+ Hotstar, which made the company acquire users at an impressive rate, are set to shoot up.
The OTT platform which currently offers two subscription plans in India is reportedly planning to adopt the price pattern similar to Netflix, albeit at a much cheaper rate.
The new Disney+ Hotstar plan starts from Rs 499, and goes as high as Rs 1,499 per year. The company, which has been taking a huge hit on its revenue book due to its below-market-standard pricing strategy, is apparently looking to do away from losses occurring from India operations by increasing the annual subscription charges for users.
Disney+ HotStar Subscription Plans: Big Picture
- Disney+ Hotstar currently has content-type tiers for users. It charges Rs 399 annually for Indian content. The content under this plan is available in HD quality, Dolby 5.1 audio and can be streamed on a single screen.
- The other current plan, called Disney+ Hotstar Premium, is available at annual subscription charges of Rs 1,499. It allows users to access the complete library that can be streamed in 4K quality and on two screens.
- There is another Rs 299 monthly subscription as well which is largely being used by users only for a trial purpose.
All of the above plans are set to go away!
Disney+ Hotstar: Food For Thought
After the skyrocketing growth during the pandemic, the adoption rate of all the OTT platforms is slowing down. With the new subscription plan, Disney+ Hotstar is trying to meet the expectations of analysts by improving the ARPU which is way lower than Netflix and HBO. The current ARPU of Disney+ (including India’s Hotstar) is $3.99, whereas Netflix’s ARPU is hovering at $11.53.
While Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer – Disney, has kept claiming that lower ARPU is not a concern for the company, the new plans clearly indicate otherwise, especially the number of paid subscribers is comparatively much lower than its arch-rival Netflix and HBO.
India market is driven by price sensitivity. Therefore, it would be interesting to see how many existing subscribers renew their annual subscription of Disney+ Hotsar by paying more than doubled the amount.
