Disney’s reverse sweep on cricket

With the streaming market in India proving more cost-conscious than Disney expected, the US media giant is changing its cricket strategy and will make games free to view on mobile phones at the upcoming Asia Cup and World Cup. 

Background 

Paying big bucks for sporting media rights that will attract viewers – and subscribers – is a well-trodden path in many countries. So when Disney made IPL cricket on Hotstar, which it acquired in 2019, a paid service in 2020, it could be reasonably confident that its user base would grow. 

But when Reliance Industries acquired the IPL rights last year and opted to stream games for free to mobile users, Disney saw subscriber numbers fall by a third, some 21 million, over the next nine months, Reuters reports. Evidently, many people weren’t prepared to keep paying for the company’s other entertainment options.

What’s happening now? 

• Disney is calling its new strategy a “hybrid model” that will increase advertising revenues via smartphone viewers.
• At the same time, it will target new subscribers for the Hotstar TV app, where cricket remains under paid plans.
• The company says it will target advertisers with budgets as low as 200,000 rupees ($2,421); interactive ads will connect watchers to a brand's WhatsApp chat to enable purchases of the products.
• A deal with Coca-Cola will put QR codes on some 400 million Coke bottles offering a Hotstar trial; Disney hopes 80,000 people will then take up paid plans.

Key quote

“We were bullish on Indian subscribers’ propensity to pay [but] that’s not worked out. Free cricket is the only bullet left” – a Disney source speaking to Reuters.

Sourced from Reuters (via Mint)