Few events in India command as much attention as cricket matches. This is even more true in the World Cup final. Just half an hour into Sunday's game, the number of simultaneous viewers exceeded 54 million, breaking the record just set earlier this week. With no higher-profile cricket matches in the near future, Hotstar is likely to maintain this record for at least six months.
Hotstar is now clearly ahead of rival Mukesh Ambani-backed Viacom18's Jio Cinema in terms of concurrent viewers, which peaked at 32 million earlier this year.
Disney is making ICC World Cup matches available for free to mobile viewers in India, where it is losing digital subscribers at a fast pace and is assessing the future of its local business. According to Disney, Hotstar has lost more than 23 million users in the past year.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said earlier this month that Disney "wants to stay" in India and is considering options in the world's most populous country, where Disney's TV business will continue to be profitable.
In recent months, the company has held preliminary talks with several companies, including Ambani's Indian conglomerate Reliance, as well as some private equity firms, to drum up interest in the India business, which was the crown jewel of Disney's portfolio as it acquired Fox.
But in recent years, StarIndia's fortunes have changed, and market conditions have shrunk, forcing Iger to shift its focus to its core business. It also didn't help Hotstar that Ambani poached several Star India executives to lead Viacom18 and agreed to spend $3 billion to provide a five-year streaming service for IPL cricket matches. (Disney also spent about $3 billion on the IPL, but on televising the games). Important backers of Viacom18 include former Fox executive Uday Shankar and BodhiTree, run by James Murdoch.
Disney has high hopes for the ongoing International Cricket World Cup. According to a 53-page internal slide deck, the global streaming company projected to marketers that it could reach more than 50 million concurrent viewers during the tournament and reach 82% of India's total annual video users during the nearly 50-day series.