Another month has gone by at Disney Plus Hotstar, and we’re back with our report card on the performance of the platform in the month of May. Read our May report on Disney Plus Hotstar to find out how well or how horribly did it do in the month of May. Please note that we cover only Indian content in our monthly reports for Indian OTT platforms.
Disney Plus Hotstar has been reeling under the pressure of an exodus of some of the most popular content from its platform, specifically speaking, the IPL and HBO content. HBO exited Disney Plus Hotstar at the end of March, while the IPL moving to Jio Cinema is old news.
However, the significant losses from Disney Plus Hotstar don’t seem to have affected the fortunes of the leading OTT platform in the country much. Granted, Disney Plus Hotstar has lost a few million subscribers in the current quarter, but it seems to be a temporary phase at large.
The reason for the above is that the content library at the streamer looks robust, diversified and interesting, not just for the months since HBO left Disney Plus Hotstar, which is April and May, but also in the coming months. The powers at be at Disney Plus Hotstar have worked out and put in place a well-rounded future content strategy for the streamer, which includes interesting original series, buzzy licensed content, and lastly, streaming rights for some of the most anticipated films in Indian cinema.
The month of May exemplifies this perfectly. Disney Plus Hotstar premiered not one, not two, but three Indian Original series in May, the most by any multi-lingual Indian OTT platform, save for Jio Cinema, which is on a content overdrive at present.
Indian Original Web Series –
Interestingly, all three Indian Original series on Disney Plus Hotstar hit their mark, as far as audience appreciation goes. Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo got rave reviews from audiences and critics alike. Dead Pixels also won its share of viewers among Telugu audiences. Finally, City Of Dreams Season 3 is going great guns on Disney Plus Hotstar, with fans of the franchise lapping up the new season of the series.
Licensed Films –
As far as the streaming of films post their theatrical runs go, Disney Plus Hotstar has snapped up the post streaming rights for some of the buzziest films in the Indian film industry, which it premiered on platform in May. Disney Plus Hotstar premiered a total of four licensed films in May. Malayalam film Corona Papers got average views, but the remaining three were hits, which are Tamil film Soppana Sundari, and Malayalam films Pookkaalam and Sulaikha Manzil.
While most trade watchers would have expected Disney Plus Hotstar to take a nosedive this month, the platform is thriving and flourishing. It seems the worst is over for Disney Plus Hotstar, and the only way for the platform in the coming months is up.
Here’s the May score for Disney Plus Hotstar –
1. Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo – Hindi series – Superhit
2. Dead Pixels – Telugu series – Semi-hit
3. City Of Dreams Season 3 – Hindi series – Hit
4. Sulaikha Manzil – Malayalam film – Hit
5. Pookkaalam – Malayalam film – Hit
6. Soppana Sundari – Tamil film – Hit
7. Corona Papers – Malayalam film – Miss
As per the above, the score for Disney Plus Hotstar in May is 6.5/7 which gives it a rounded off score of 93% for the month of May – a smashing success by any standard.
Scoring –
Superhit – 2 points
Hit – 1 point
Semi-hit – 0.5 point
Miss – 0 points
Check out our May 2023 reports for Netflix, Prime Video, ZEE5, SonyLIV, Jio Cinema too, only on Binged.com