# Disney+ to launch in India through Hotstar on March 29



## Cyberghost (Feb 5, 2020)

*www.binged.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Disney-Plus-Arriving-in-India-on-29th-March-on-Hotstar-as-a-Single-Entity-Called-Disney-Plus-Hotstar.jpg​
Hotstar, a lesser-known Disney-owned service which has earned a name for itself setting global streaming records, is about to have a very busy next few months. Disney plans to bring its on-demand streaming service Plus in India through Hotstar on March 29, a little sooner than expected, the company said Tuesday.

In an earnings call with analysts, Disney chief executive Bob Iger said the entertainment conglomerate will launch the service in one of the world’s largest entertainment markets at the beginning of the next edition of IPL cricket tournament, the most noteworthy event on Hotstar all year. He also revealed that Disney+ had amassed 26.5 million paying subscribers worldwide.

TechCrunch reported in November that the company was planning to launch its streaming service in India by the second half of the year, followed by its entry in Southeast Asian markets. We also reported that by end of Q1, the company was likely to raise the subscription price of Hotstar service, a Star India-owned service it owns as part of its acquisition of Fox.

Hotstar, at its peak, reported more than 100 million daily active users and 300 million monthly active users last year. The service, which currently offers its premium offering for about $14 a year, also features shows and movies from HBO, ABC, and Showtime. It also offers an ad-supported free tier, which as of two years ago, included about 80% of the catalog.

Iger declined to share specifics about how much the company would charge for Disney+ featuring Hotstar, but said it will bring “two primary products” into India.

“One will be more premium in nature that will include the entire library of original programming and the other one will be more basic that will have the library and not the original programming priced for the market and launched at a very peak period of time for the IPL, the Cricket League,” he said.

“So we think it’s an opportune moment, we take advantage of the presence of Star in the market and the millions of subscribers that they also have, we take advantage of the sports tie-in and we use the interface and the technology that includes the billing that already exists to launch a service we believe under very, very optimal circumstances,” he added.

Hotstar competes with dozens of video streaming services in India, including its global rivals Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. In recent years, all of these services have made original series and movies for the Indian market. The most notable original series on Hotstar is the remake of “The Office.” Netflix’s monthly subscription tiers start from $2.8 (for mobile-only viewing), while Prime Video charges $14 a year. Apple TV+ costs $1.4 a month in India.

Iger said the company will rebrand the premium tier of Hotstar to “Disney plus Hotstar.” “We see this as a great opportunity to use the proven platform of Hotstar to launch the new Disney+ service in one of the most populous countries and fastest growing economies in the world.”

In an earlier earnings call, Iger said the company will expand Hotstar outside of India to launch Disney+ through it in Southeast Asian markets.

Source: Techcrunch


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## Desmond (Feb 6, 2020)

Cyberghost said:


> Hotstar, a lesser-known Disney-owned service


Disney owns Hotstar? What?


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## meetdilip (Feb 6, 2020)

Disney bought some assets of Star, which include Hotstar and Star India.


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## Cyberghost (Feb 7, 2020)

Desmond David said:


> Disney owns Hotstar? What?


The Walt Disney Company India bought Star India in 2017 which includes Hotstar. Disney has 30% share in Tatasky also


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## topgear (Feb 8, 2020)

getting excited to see duck tales, aladdin, the little mermaid etc. in FHD


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## SaiyanGoku (Feb 8, 2020)

topgear said:


> getting excited to see duck tales, aladdin, the little mermaid etc. in FHD


They've cropped all 4:3 videos so that it can fit newer 16:9 aspect ratio. 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk


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## topgear (Feb 9, 2020)

SaiyanGoku said:


> They've cropped all 4:3 videos so that it can fit newer 16:9 aspect ratio.
> 
> Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk



Well that's just a wish .. but apart from remastered version don't want Duck Tales to be like this :


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## Vyom (Feb 9, 2020)

Well, now maybe I finally decide to get hotstar subscription.



topgear said:


> Well that's just a wish .. but apart from remastered version don't want Duck Tales to be like this :



^^ WTF.. WHAT THEY DID TO DUCK TALES!


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## whitestar_999 (Feb 9, 2020)

Vyom said:


> ^^ WTF.. WHAT THEY DID TO DUCK TALES!


Exactly my thoughts.


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## topgear (Feb 22, 2020)

Vyom said:


> Well, now maybe I finally decide to get hotstar subscription.
> 
> ^^ WTF.. WHAT THEY DID TO DUCK TALES!



It's just got "Desi" touch  So much for my hope to watch those old episodes in HD ...

Anyway, I've all ( or most ) of the episodes in 4:3 format somewhere ..downloaded it long back from torrent website and watched just few months ago - I think I can live with it.


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## Engineer.AI (Feb 25, 2020)

Cyberghost said:


> The Walt Disney Company India bought Star India in 2017 which includes Hotstar. Disney has 30% share in Tatasky also


They aren't messing around when they say that DISNEY OWNS EVERYTHING!
~engineer.ai


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## Cyberghost (Mar 31, 2020)

*Update:*
*i.gadgets360cdn.com/large/DisneyHotstar-c_1585656645865.jpg​We have a new launch date for Disney+ Hotstar: this Friday, April 3. Alongside, *Hotstar has also revealed new pricing: Disney+ Hotstar VIP will now cost Rs. 399 per year (up from Rs. 365), while Disney+ Hotstar Premium has been pushed to Rs. 1,499 per year (up from Rs. 999). *If you want access to Disney+ originals such as the Star Wars series The Mandalorian, you'll need to pay for the latter. As was the case before, the original English-language versions of Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and Disney movies will also be locked to Disney+ Hotstar Premium. Those on Disney+ Hotstar VIP will get to watch the local-language dubs — be it Hindi, Tamil, or Telugu — as and when available.

Disney+ Hotstar launch date
The new April 3 launch date for Disney+ Hotstar is an interesting pick, given it was indefinitely pushed from its originally scheduled March 29 date. That's resulted in less than a week's worth of delay in total. That's naturally been brought on by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic — as was the delay — which has given rise to social distancing and more people staying at home, something Hotstar acknowledged in its new Disney+ Hotstar launch date announcement. Disney+ has already made use of this internationally, releasing Frozen 2 earlier than usual. The new Pixar movie, Onward, is slated to arrive April 3 on Disney+ in the US, and that might happen on the same day for Indians too.

And in more good news, Hotstar says that Disney+ Hotstar subscribers will get unlimited downloads for Disney+ content, up from the stupid five episode and movie limit that has been imposed so far. On top of that, Disney+ Hotstar will feature a brand-new navigation section, with new “channels” for Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. Gadgets 360 first reported on this when the new Disney+ Hotstar rebranding had (temporarily) taken affect.

To kick off the launch, Disney+ Hotstar will host a virtual red carpet — virtual due to the pandemic no doubt — on Thursday, April 2, where The Lion King live-action remake will be premiered at 6pm, followed by The Mandalorian at 8pm. You can already watch both by yourself if you don't wish to join in the forced festivities. If you do join in, you'll get to interact with other Disney+ Hotstar users, sharing messages, photos, and badges, and select unnamed celebrities.

“With the success of Hotstar, we ushered in a new era for premium video streaming in India,” Disney APAC president and Star & Disney India chairman, Uday Shankar, said in a prepared statement. “Today, as we unveil Disney+ Hotstar, we take yet another momentous step in staying committed to our promise of delivering high-quality impactful stories for India that have not only entertained but also made a difference in people's lives, a promise that is even more meaningful in challenging times such as this. We hope the power of Disney's storytelling, delivered through Hotstar's technology, will help our viewers find moments of comfort, happiness and inspiration during these difficult times.”

*Disney+ Hotstar price*
Disney+ Hotstar launches April 3 in India. Existing subscribers will be automatically upgraded and charged the new prices — Rs. 399 for Disney+ Hotstar VIP or Rs. 1,499 for Disney+ Hotstar Premium — upon renewal of their memberships.

Source: Gadgets360 (NDTV)


​


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## topgear (Apr 1, 2020)

It's better to get / renew the premium subscription now at Rs. 999 - this way one can save 500 bucks.


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 1, 2020)

topgear said:


> It's better to get / renew the premium subscription now at Rs. 999 - this way one can save 500 bucks.


I am not sure they/their system will allow this.


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## topgear (Apr 2, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> I am not sure they/their system will allow this.



Why not .. I can still see they are charging Rs. 999 for premium subscription and those having premium subscription of hotstar now will be automatically upgraded to premium.



> Existing subscribers will be automatically upgraded and charged the new prices



If one has paid through prepaid method I'm not sure how hotstar+disney is going to charge them ? May be they will keep the balance as minus and deduct it on next renewal of the plan. Or they may not show any negative balance at all and the latter shall be more likely.


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## Vyom (Apr 3, 2020)

They haven't really encouraged me to buy hotstar premium by increasing the price.
With some disney content also on Jio, I still choose not to support their increased pricing.


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## billubakra (Apr 3, 2020)

meetdilip said:


> Disney bought some assets of Star, which include Hotstar and Star India.


Disney bought Fox, Fox owned Star India and Hotstar


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## dissel (Apr 9, 2020)

I got Hotstar Premium Subs which is going to end 02/05/2020 - Can I pay just 999/- or bound to pay extra 500 bucks?


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## topgear (Apr 10, 2020)

dissel said:


> I got Hotstar Premium Subs which is going to end 02/05/2020 - Can I pay just 999/- or bound to pay extra 500 bucks?



999+500 .. but you could have activated it before and the remaining days value would have been discounted from the new subscription value. You can do it now as well and the value of remaining days will be discounted from the new subscription value.


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## dissel (Apr 10, 2020)

topgear said:


> 999+500 .. but you could have activated it before and the remaining days value would have been discounted from the new subscription value. You can do it now as well and the value of remaining days will be discounted from the new subscription value.



Thanks for the reply, But looks like there is no way to recharge before the due date, below the screenshot of the same.

*i.imgur.com/JkGH1b2.png

*i.imgur.com/Wpn00US.png


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## topgear (Apr 12, 2020)

While logged in here :
*www.hotstar.com/in/subscribe/my-account
go here :
*www.hotstar.com/in/subscribe/get-started
And this is what I'm getting :


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## thetechfreak (Apr 20, 2020)

Quite cheap tbh. But I expect D+ to substantially increase pricing in the coming years 

Sent from my vivo 1807 using Tapatalk


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## TigerKing (Sep 20, 2020)

I have Jio sim card. I recharged with 2599 plan. I got VIP subscription for a year according to plan I confirmed this with Disney+ Hotstar. I was able to access all Disney+ Hotstar content.
But I couldn't watch IPL. Whenever I click on live channels of star sports, I was asked to "Subscribe to Disney+ Hotstar VIP to watch Dream11 IPL LIVE". Before IPL, I was able to access those LIVE channels without any problem.
Need assistance. Thank you.


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