For all the attention Disney has received trying to grow its sports streaming business with ESPN+ in the U.S., overlooked is the fact that the media giant already operates an over-the-top platform that captured an audience of more than 300 million international sports fans this year. Among the assets Disney acquired from Fox was Star India, whose direct-to-consumer Hotstar service hit that viewership number during the 2019 Indian Premier League cricket season.
Hotstar is one of two platforms, along with Willow TV, through which U.S. residents can watch the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, which started last week in England and Wales. Willow TV is available as a direct streaming product, via Sling TV, or through several linear cable providers. Hotstar can be streamed on desktop or mobile devices. Its popularity in India is record-setting. The final IPL match had 18.6 million concurrent viewers and an average of 11.1 million in India back on May 12.
“We also ended up with really interesting business in Asia and South East Asia and particularly India with Star and Hotstar,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger at the 6th Annual Moffett Nathanson Media & Communications Summit, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “To give you an example, for every four hours of video watched in India today, Hotstar gets one hour of that.”
For the ongoing 10-team World Cup, whose final will be played on Jul. 14, Hotstar is offering commentary in six languages (English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Bengali), seven customized feeds, and a new social experience within its app. Users will be able to chat with each other, similar to the functions that Facebook and Twitter offer with their streaming services. Hotstar is also introducing a Fan Graph to help viewers locate key moments in matches.
To capture the video content during the tournament, the ICC is deploying 32 cameras per match, of which eight will be ultra-motion Hawk-Eye cameras, Spidercams, and front and reverse-view stump cameras. There will also be two remote-controlled cameras, a drone produced by Batcam, and a roving Buggy Cam. Video officiating will be aided by Hawk-Eye, and audio analysis to help determine bat to ball contact will be provided by the Snickometer.
Hotstar has launched an ad campaign called “That Feeling of Home” to target the South Asian Diaspora in the U.S. The India-based media company, however, made clear even before the Disney acquisition that it plans to grow in this country outside traditional cricket demographics.
“Cricket is the second most watched sport in the rest of the world. It’s not just a sport that is kind of growing in small pockets of the world. It is after soccer the second most watched sport in the world,” Hotstar president Ipsita Dasgupta told SportTechie last October. “Clearly the U.S. is missing out.”