MUMBAI: Disney+ marks its much-awaited arrival in the crowded over-the-top (OTT) ecosystem. Wednesday morning onwards, a large part of Disney+ content catalogue has been made available on Hotstar which now comes under the umbrella of The Walt Disney Co post acquisition of 21st Century Fox. The black-yellow logo of Hotstar has also been  replaced by blue and white design for Disney+ Hotstar. 

The entertainment giant has made its debut ahead of its scheduled time. Former CEO of Disney Bob Iger earlier said that they would be launching the service in India through Hotstar on 29 March at the beginning of the Indian Premier League. However, Hotstar did not make any statement on the early launch or give any clarity if its a test launch.

Under the leadership of Iger, the giant media conglomerate has embarked on the streaming war in the OTT world dominated by the likes of Netflix and Amazon. Iger said that Disney+ would remain focused on providing quality content from its core franchises and brands, not just on the quantity of the library. As the service was also gearing up for international launch, Iger noted that they would leverage the success of Hotstar in India by bundling the two services.

“Disney+ will be more positioned as a premium offering. It will open up a segment of the market that is not largely consuming international content at this point. It will position Hotstar with those consumers. It will improve Hotstar premium positioning,” Deloitte India partner Jehil Thakkar says. 

“It will help Hotstar target a segment of the market that is actually paying for content. The 30-40 mn people in this country who are willing to play premium prices for an international as well as premium Indian content, It will help Hotstar position well with those consumers,” he adds. 

Iger said post Q1 earnings that the new streaming service, Disney+ reached 28.6 million subscribers. After he stepped down from his position as CEO, it was reported that he would continue to spend much of his time focusing on the streaming service into the role of executive chairman. 

“Disney has a big amount of content library and it is largely kids-focused. In India, there are not too many kids based OTT platforms. Kids' content is a big market. Putting Disney content on Hotstar, making the look crisp, it will have a good impact on the subscriber base,” Elara Capital VP – research analyst (Media) Karan Taurani said. 

Taurani also added that as India is a very fragmented market, the entry of one more global giant who is serious to stay here will not impact the global giants except the smaller players. However, Thakkar is of a different opinion. According to him, Disney+ will first position itself as an international content provider. Hence, it will increase competition for international players primarily. 

While Hotstar has already established its position in the advertising-based video-on-demand play surpassing 300 million active users, the Disney+ launch will definitely boost its newly launched subscription service also. The huge combined library of those two giants will challenge other deep-pocket international players who also see India as their next frontier of growth. However, the pricing which has not been revealed yet will also be a deciding factor of the new rebranded service’s fate.