Disney+Hotstar Said to Introduce Sharing Limit in India to Four Devices 6o5pd Entertainment News

In India, a of Disney+ Hotstar streaming service still allows s on as many as 10 devices. 2l3i17

By Reuters | Updated: 27 July 2023 22:41 IST

Disney+Hotstar Said to Introduce Sharing Limit in India to Four Devices

Disney, Netflix, Amazon and billionaire Mukesh Ambani's JioCinema have become hugely popular in India 2u5b27

Highlights

Disney+ Hotstar has internally tested enforcement of the policy
The company has plans to start implementing it later this year
Industry data says Hotstar is market leader in of s

ment

Walt Disney's India streaming service plans to start enforcing a policy of allowing its s to from only four devices, an effort aimed at limiting sharing in a key market, two sources with direct knowledge said.

Netflix in May started telling subscribers in more than 100 countries they will need to pay more to share the service with people outside their household.

In India, a of Disney+ Hotstar streaming service still allows s on as many as 10 devices, even though its website currently says "number of devices that can be logged in" is four.

Disney+ Hotstar has internally tested enforcement of the policy and has plans to start implementing it later this year to limit s at four for such s, said the first person.

"Some people will be incentivised to buy" their own subscriptions with new restrictions in place, said the person.

Disney declined to comment.

Disney had hoped that not strictly enforcing the four-device policy would attract subscribers who could start accessing the service via sharing but then eventually buy their own s, the person added.

Disney, Netflix, JioCinema have become hugely popular in India, which is set to grow into a $7 billion (nearly Rs. 57,530 crore) market for the sector by 2027, Media Partners Asia estimates.

Industry data says Hotstar is market leader in of s with approximately 50 million.

The second source said Disney+ Hotstar in India did not enforce the four-device policy as it did not want to inconvenience s and had detected internally that only around 5 percent of its subscribers logged in from more than four devices.

The new planned restriction will also apply to its cheaper plan which will limit usage across two devices, the second source added.

Disney's Hotstar topped India's streaming market between January 2022 and March 2023 with a 38 percent share of viewership, while rivals Netflix and Prime Video held 5 percent each, data from research firm Media Partners Asia showed.

Walt Disney is also in initial discussions internally to explore options to sell or find a t venture partner for its India digital and TV business, according to a source with direct knowledge.

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