hotstar: Walt Disney’s BVVOD paid Rs 178.13 for the acquisition of Hotstar’s US biz
Disney+ Hotstar, which was called Hotstar in the US, exited the market in 2021. Walt Disney’s BVVOD is a leading distributor of films in the Video-On-Demand arena.
According to Novi Digital Entertainment’s FY22 filing obtained by Tofler, the company also received Rs 41.59 crore on account of reversal of deferred revenue related to Hotstar US subscribers taken over by BVVOD.
In FY22, Novi Digital booked an exceptional income of Rs 219.72 crore due to the sale of Hotstar’s US operations and reversal of deferred income.
For the financial year ending March 31, 2022, the company registered 93% growth in its total revenue at Rs 3,220.41 crore and a 43% reduction in net loss to Rs 343.16 crore.
Advertising revenue rose 103% to Rs 1,684.31 crore while subscription revenue rose 65% to Rs 1,373.61 crore.
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In August 2021, Walt Disney said Hotstar’s content will migrate to streaming platforms ESPN+ and Hulu in the US. Hotstar’s sports content moved to ESPN+ while its entertainment content moved to Hulu, a subscription-based streaming service in which Comcast owns 33%.
The decision was part of Disney’s strategy to consolidate the content of its streaming package, which consisted of Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu.
Disney+ Hotstar, which had 61.3 million paid subscribers as of October 1, 2022, is available in India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for Disney+ Hotstar increased from $0.68 to $0.88 driven by higher advertising revenue per subscriber and increases in retail pricing.
Disney+ Hotstar offers more than 100,000 hours of content that includes TV shows, Disney+ originals, Hotstar specials, movies in eight languages and sports.
The platform’s live sports catalog includes, among others, the Indian Premier League (TV rights), the International Cricket Council (digital rights), Cricket Australia and the Indian cricket team’s home matches.
As of March 31, 2022, Star India held 78.07% of Novi Digital Entertainment while the remaining 21.93% was held by Star US Holdings Subsidiary LLC.
In April 2020, Star India and Star US Holdings infused Rs 1,113.76 crore in Novi Digital Entertainment. According to Tofler, Star India had invested Rs 869.47 crore while Star US Holdings Subsidiary LLC injected Rs 244.29 crore.
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