All OTT enthusiasts must already be aware by now that the deal between OTT giant Disney+ Hotstar and Warner Bros Discovery is coming to an end. Consequently, 144 HBO originals including premium HBO shows like ‘The Last of Us’, ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Succession’, etc. will cease to stream on Disney+ Hotstar starting from 31st March. And to rub salt into the wound, Indian viewers won’t be able to watch the full season of HBO’s acclaimed dark comedy series ‘Succession’ on Hotstar.
The Disney+ Hotstar – HBO deal didn’t go through because of the massive $10 million asking price for a five-year deal which equals to an exorbitant total amount of a whopping $50 million for the five-year tenure.
So, what can HBO and Indian OTT platforms (including Disney+ Hotstar) do in order to retain HBO’s premium content portfolio after 31st March and that too in a cost-effective way without the $50 million deal price burden on Indian OTT platforms?
Even if we disregard HBO’s overvaluation concerns for the Indian OTT market, the apparent reason as to why HBO is demanding an asking price of $10 million per year is because HBO original content will be ‘exclusively’ available to a particular Indian OTT platform, who might be interested in taking the deal.
What if we take out the element of ‘exclusivity’ of HBO content in the Indian OTT space? What if not one but multiple popular Indian OTT platforms strike a deal with HBO for airing their content on their respective streaming platforms? Sounds far-fetched but not impossible.
Last year, Amazon Prime Video collaborated with HBO’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery to stream eleven HBO Max shows and ten movies on their OTT platforms. The list includes ‘Peacemaker’, ‘The Flight Attendant’, and ‘The Staircase’, amongst other titles.
So, what if Indian OTT platforms find a way to concurrently collaborate with HBO to stream their content on the basis of, say, genres? For instance, fantasy series like ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘House of the Dragon’ and HBO’s miniseries portfolio can stream on one Indian OTT platform. While HBO’s older programming content like ‘Six Feet Under’ and ‘Sopranos’ and the drama series segment can stream on a different OTT platform. And HBO’s comedy + anthology series portfolio can stream on a different Indian OTT platform. Having said that, things may have to be worked out from a financial and legal standpoint.
This way, HBO’s total asking price of $50 million for five years can be divided between multiple and major Indian OTT players (say three OTT platforms), thereby reducing the amount to one-third, that is, $3.3 million per year per Indian OTT platform. Besides Disney+ Hotstar, OTT platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix, or SonyLIV can be the potential contenders for showcasing HBO content in India. But for that to happen, the element of ‘exclusivity’ must be forgone, if that’s pragmatically possible.
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