Disney+ Hotstar has long been a titan in India’s streaming world. Up until the middle of 2022, they used to dominate the OTT space in entire India.
But things changed. They remained the most powerful force in the Indian OTT space but something seemed off.
Well, 2024 tells a new story. Actually, Hotstar has shifted from Hindi audiences to carving a niche in South India. While Netflix and Prime Video gained ground in Hindi originals, Disney+ Hotstar quietly made waves in regional content, particularly in Tamil and Telugu.
It’s no surprise that Tamil originals like Chutney Sambar became household favourites. The platform’s focus on deeply local stories seems to have struck a chord.
In Telugu, too, Disney+ Hotstar held its ground through outpacing competitors. Even Zee5 is highly active in the Telugu market but they are not at Hotstar’s level yet.
So it is good to see that a platform so powerful as Disney+ Hotstar is making so much effort in the market that is not even explored by Netflix in the correct manner.
Anyway, after the merger with Reliance Entertainment, there has to be a lot of changes in the way Hotstar functions. Let’s hope that they don’t ruin the reputation of the platform by trashy originals.