It was inevitable that Disney would want to cash in on its own streaming service after the success of competitors like Netflix, and lo and behold, Disney Plus was launched on Nov. 12, 2019. Disney’s streaming service was first introduced in the U.S., Canada, and the Netherlands but would expand to other regions like Australia and Puerto Rico soon after its initial launch. Many Disney fans were excited to have access to Disney Plus’ vast streaming library full of Marvel, 21st Century Fox, and Disney titles, but others criticized Disney Plus for failing to launch in more countries.
While Disney Plus has yet to expand to every region, Disney has taken strides in expanding the streaming service’s reach into more territories. Disney Plus continues to become available in countries like Singapore, South Korea, and Mexico; Variety reports the streaming service launched in over 60 countries just last year. As Disney Plus expands, it is likely its content will be unique in different regions, as is the case with India’s Disney Plus Hotstar.
Disney Plus Hotstar
Disney Plus Hotstar is a combination of Disney Plus and Indian streaming service Hotstar. Hotstar was first launched in 2015 by parent company Star India and primarily focused on high-quality content for Indian consumers. The streaming service generated most of its early views from competitive sporting events like the 2015 Cricket World Cup and 2015 Indian Premier League. When streaming services like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix attempted to expand to the Indian market, Hotstar continued to dominate as India’s number one streaming site.
By the time Disney entered the picture, Hotstar was seeing record growth and had over 100 million daily users. In 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, Star India’s parent company, therefore acquiring Hotstar. Disney created a subsidiary company named Novi Digital Entertainment to run Disney’s and Star’s joint projects. Disney decided to merge Hotstar and Disney Plus into one streaming service, and thus, Disney Plus Hotstar was first launched in April 2020. The resulting service has a large catalog of both Disney Plus and Hotstar titles, including original content, as well as covering major sporting events.
More recently, Disney Plus Hotstar has begun expanding into other countries in Southeast Asia. As of April 2023, Disney Plus Hotstar is available in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. The streaming service is looking to expand into Vietnam sometime this year. Unfortunately, Disney Plus Hotstar is not available in the United States or United Kingdom; when Disney acquired Hotstar, it shut down Hotstar in these territories and instead moved previous Hotstar (under the name Star Sports) sports coverage to ESPN Plus and Hulu.
