The battle for India, Netflix, Disney Plus and Hotstar

[seascape]

Netflix is going in big on trying to be number 1 in India by spending $420 million on local content. However Hotstar already has over 300 million customers in India. Put in perspective, that is almost twice the total customers Netflix has worldwide. In otherwords, if the number of customers is what you judge the top streaming company by, it's not close, Hotstar is number 1.

Now, anyone who thinks the number of customers alone matters, your wrong. India is and will be a huge and critical market, but the revenue per customer is tiny. This does not mean it is not worth that much or worth the massive investment in content. Netflix $420 million investment would be less tha $1.40 cents per customer if they could reach the number of customers Hotstar has. As for Disney Plus, they have a huge advantage over Netflix because the can add a Disney Plus option to Hotstar for a small cost and could do the same for the Hulu. So who will win the streaming wars in India? There really is only one company that can win it, Disney because they offer everything, Hotstar, Disney Plus starting in 2020, with Hulu and ESPN Plus still to come.

 

[Dead2009]

I don't mean to be disrespectful or anything but should anyone who doesn't live in India really care about this?

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

Well if it means netflix tanks it could actually affect people outside of India . Just a thought .

 

[seascape]

I don't mean to be disrespectful or anything but should anyone who doesn't live in India really care about this?

Of course every Disney fan should care as it is only a matter of time until The Walt Disney Company opens India's very own Disneyland. Just like Disney's Sunday night TV show was critical to the building of Disneyland; Hotstar, Disney Plus and Hulu will be critical in India's Disneyland Park. Remember this tiny fact, India is just behind China in population and the two countries combined have 2.8 billion people. The company that wins in Asia wins the world.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Netflix is going in big on trying to be number 1 in India by spending $420 million on local content. However Hotstar already has over 300 million customers in India. Put in perspective, that is almost twice the total customers Netflix has worldwide. In otherwords, if the number of customers is what you judge the top streaming company by, it's not close, Hotstar is number 1.

Now, anyone who thinks the number of customers alone matters, your wrong. India is and will be a huge and critical market, but the revenue per customer is tiny. This does not mean it is not worth that much or worth the massive investment in content. Netflix $420 million investment would be less tha $1.40 cents per customer if they could reach the number of customers Hotstar has. As for Disney Plus, they have a huge advantage over Netflix because the can add a Disney Plus option to Hotstar for a small cost and could do the same for the Hulu. So who will win the streaming wars in India? There really is only one company that can win it, Disney because they offer everything, Hotstar, Disney Plus starting in 2020, with Hulu and ESPN Plus still to come.

That's actually super interesting, thanks.

India-Pakistan cricket matches drawing 100 million viewers - on 100% Disney owned streaming services. The clutches of TWDC always reach further than one thinks. What a conglomerate.

 

[Kneepop]

honestly, I hope that Disney+ goes worldwide, like truly worldwide. I can't access the services without this right now. While Hotstar, somehow I haven't heard or at least I can't even remember that Hotstar is a subsidiary of Disney until googling about it. But still, the comparison you've made is truly interesting