Walt Disney CEO Says ‘Disciplined Decision’ To Not Proceed With IPL Digital Rights
Disney+ Hotstar saw its paid subscriber base jump 16.6% sequentially to an all-time high of 58.4 million in quarter ended June.
Walt Disney Co.’s online streaming platform posted one of its best quarters since inception as viewership spiked on account of Indian Premier League matches.
Disney+ Hotstar saw its paid subscriber base jump 16.6% sequentially to an all-time high of 58.4 million in the quarter ended June, the company said as part of its disclosure. Its average revenue per month per subscriber also rose from 76 cents in the preceding three months to $1.20 during the period.
“Our Disney+ Hotstar subscribers increased by over 8 million as the IPL concluded its 15th season in the quarter,” Bob Chapek, chief executive officer at Walt Disney, said during a quarterly analyst call.
The over-the-top streaming platform accounted for 38.4% of the total direct-to-customer paid subscribers of Disney as of June 2022.
But losing the digital broadcasting rights of the IPL—one of the world’s most popular sporting events—to Viacom18 Media Pvt. for the next five seasons could pose a challenge to sustain the peak paid users and average monthly subscription rates for Disney+ Hotstar in India.
Walt Disney, however, is eyeing aggressive growth for the streaming platform by March 2024.
“We are updating subscriber guidance for Disney+ Hotstar to up to 80 million subscribers by the end of fiscal 2024. We intend to refine this target over time as subscriber visibility in India will be clearer, once the ICC and BCCI cricket rights sales processes are completed,” said Chapek.
Disney+ Hotstar has rights for international cricket played in India and ICC rights for cricket up till end of the World Cup in 2023, including the T-20 World Cup to be played in Australia this year. The ICC World Cup will be played entirely in India in 2023.
Disney Star has also won TV rights for the IPL for Rs 23,575 crore. The sale of the digital contract fetched the Indian cricket board Rs 23,758 crore for 410 matches. This was the first time when digital rights were sold at a higher price than television’s.
Disney-Star had in 2017 paid Rs 16,347 crore for IPL’s broadcast rights.
The company “made the disciplined decision” to not proceed with the IPL digital rights, Chapek said. “We’ll evaluate these rights with that same discipline as we sit here today,” he said. “We secured exclusive TV rights for the upcoming 2023 to 2027 IPL season following a competitive process, where make disciplined bids with a focus on long-term value.”
Pay TV distribution in India, Chapek said, continues to be a robust business with projected GDP growth expected to drive advertising and consumer spending. “In fact, India is one of the only markets in which we are launching new linear channels.”
“Disney is excited to continue offering IPL to linear customers in India where growth potential exists for its portfolio of more than 70 channels that reaches 90% of pay cable and satellite TV homes in the region.”