Just to add, might be that Disney/Star would not have been okay with monetary demand put forward by HBO / Warmer Media to sell rights of HBO Original content to them. As such Disney/Star would have just opted for Digital/OTT rights if pricing was alright for them, I do not see TV rights of these shows being brought by any one the current broadcaster unless price is brought down to a level which is not loss making for the broadcaster.
Let us see which OTT platforms picks up the rights or is it that Warner Media is planning to roll out it via HBO Max and make it available on Discovery+ soon.
Also just to clarify that the loss in subscriber base of Disney+Hotstar in last few months may in minor way also b bcoz in some other markets/territories many subscribers have been migrated from Disney+Hotstar to Hulu. Also currently Disney+ has gained subscribers in US/Canada and so has Hulu, ESPN+. Coming to India ARPU has increased, also if we take into account overall subscriber base and even paid subscriber base still Disney+Hotstar is much much ahead of its competitors. Have a look at this
Subscribers leave Disney+ Hotstar; paid user base falls 6% in Dec quarter
Parent firm to fire 7,000 staffers globally to save $5.5 bn in costs, make streaming biz profitablewww.business-standard.com
Also 7 out of Top 10 shows available/streamed on OTT platforms in 2022 were from Disney+Hotstar. IPL surely did continue towards increasing subscriber base + ARPU but to say that without IPL disney+hotstar will become weaker infront of competitors is surely not a realistic assessment. It has lots of content and further expand it to continue its dominance on OTT front.
Lastly i would like to clarify that OTT subscription one gets with mobile/broadband/DTH plans/connections does not fall under Free Access category and these r mostly counted as part of Paid Subscriber Base of the concerned OTT platform. The revenue sharing aspect for such bundled agreements between OTT platforms and Mobile/Broadband/DTH operators may vary....sometimes operators may be paying full amount to OTT platforms and giving subscribers access on complimentary basis thereby bearing the cost burden, in other cases there might be an arrangement where operators bundle OTT packs in such a way that it can earn revenue and accommodate OTT and other services part of offerings in that plan and there may also be case wherein like for Tata Play Binge and Airtel XStream OTT plans both operators and OTT platforms have revenue sharing agreement, whatever revenue is generated is then divided between operator/ platforms.
Disney+Hotstar also leads in providing its service as part of such bundled plans.
Though Pay TV subscriber base particularly in Cable TV sector has seen decline in last 4 or 5 years but as far as DTH sector is concerned things r more pr less stable now as after some decline there is now rise in subscriber base reported (Tata Play, Airtel Digital TV, Sun Direct gaining and Dish d2h losing subscribers if we compare overall subscriber numbers as were there say in 2017 to what it is now and even if we compare gains/losses in different quarters therein).
All things will grow in future as corrective measures r gradually taken to address shortcomings . OTT and TV compliment each other specially for companies which have presence across both and have strong line up of content on both platforms. Disney+Hotstar here again has distinct advantage compared to Zee5, Voot, Sony Liv be it content available from English GEC/Movies, Infotainment, Kids.. Sports Genre is very costly to invest in for any broadcaster or OTT platform and there is strong competition in it specially on OTT front where apart from above 4 there r other OTT exclusive players which r acquiring rights for various sporting properties thereby further expanding the options available to viewers to watch content but at the same time taking the subscription cost higher to view all such content. Good thing is that Disney/Star seems to be having a content sharing agreement with Fancode where thru such exchange not only it helps both companies expand its content offering on OTT/TV Platform in cost effective manner but most importantly viewers r able to watch their favorite sports on either platforms. In future we may see Fancode/Disney+Hotstar OTT subription bundles being offered, already for upcoming Legends Cricket League both Star Sports on TV as well as Disney+Hotstar and Fancode will bw jointly airing the series
Here is the confirmation that HBO put forward a very high price offer for renewal of agreement with Disney+Hotstar. Even other OTT platforms still at this point have not shown interest to enter into agreement with HBO bcoz of steep pricing
Also here in the article it is mentioned that HBO content had extremely niche and limited audience base in India & had low reach on Disney+Hotstar
