Video streaming service, Hotstar, has dropped its annual subscription charges to Rs 999. The one year subscription plan previously cost Rs 199 per month, which sums up to Rs 2,388 per year. This means that the company is now offering a 58 percent discount on its annual subscription services, which will allow users to stream movies, series and shows via the platform. This is not the first time Hotstar has discounted its subscription fees as in February, the OTT was offering its annual subscription plan at Rs 1,200. There is still an option for subscribing to the service monthly and it will cost you Rs 199.
One can avail the offer using the Hotstar app or by visiting the Hotstar website and selecting the plan they require. However, it should be noted that the offer can only be availed by new subscribers only. Existing members who have already purchased the plan will reportedly have their subscription extended by two extra months. The IPL 2018 will commence soon and the offer comes a few days ahead of it. Hotstar has the exclusive rights for streaming the matches during this event and is also offering a special yearly plan priced at Rs 299 for sports enthusiasts. Some network providers like Airtel and Jio have also tied up with Hotstar for streaming the matches on their respective apps.
Airtel recently announced that it will be streaming the Vivo IPL 2018 on its Airtel TV app for free for all its users. The matches and highlights will be sourced from Hotstar and will come with a dedicated cricket section where a user can experience a “highly curated and interactive content experience to go with all the LIVE action.” An Airtel subscriber needs to update to the latest version of the Airtel TV app to have access to the content. They will then be able to check leaderboards, be updated with ongoing matches, follow their favourite teams, and look up the upcoming schedules from the app.
The Airtel offer comes hot on heels of Jio, who announced the latest "Jio Cricket Play Along Festival". The telco has also also introduced a new Cricket Season plan priced at Rs 251, under which, its users will avail a 102GB high speed 4G data benefit for 51 days. They can also participate in a play-along contest using the MyJio app to win prizes like a "premium" house in Mumbai, cash prizes, cars, and more.
One can also experience the IPL 2018 in VR as Star India had earlier announced support it on the app. Using the feature, subscribers will not only be able to view the matches in VR, but also select and view a match from different camera angles, react using cricket emojis, change commentary languages, and access on-demand replays and highlights on the “Super-fan feed”. Of course, one would also require a VR headset to experience the upcoming matches in VR. You can read more on this here.