Hotstar enters UK market, introduces subscription plan for US

Star India’s video on demand (VoD) platform Hotstar has expanded its international presence with the entry in the UK market. The service is currently available in US and Canada.

The OTT platform is offering monthly and annual subscription plans to users in the UK. The monthly plan is available for £11.99 while the annual plan is for £59.99.

Hotstar is currently available on Google App Store and will shortly launch on iOS as well. Hotstar will allow UK users to cast content from mobile devices on to television sets.

Hotstar will live stream the upcoming Asia Cup 2018 in UK and USA. Star has not signed any broadcast deals in the UK and USA markets. Indications are that Asia Cup will stream exclusively on Hotstar in these two markets.

The platform will offer catch up content from Star India’s network of channels besides live sports.

Star is an entertainment and sports powerhouse reaching approximately 700+ million viewers a month across India and more than 100 other countries. Star generates 30,000+ hours of content every year and broadcasts 60+ channels in 8 different languages, reaching 9 out of 10 C&S TV homes in India.

Meanwhile, Hotstar is offering 160 days of cricket to users in the US starting with the Asia Cup which will begin with Bangladesh taking on Sri Lanka in Dubai on September 15. Participants include India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong.

Hotstar, the exclusive and official digital streaming partner for Asia Cup, will live stream all the matches for the duration of the tournament.

The platform’s cricket calendar is choc-a-block with events like India vs. West Indies series in October, followed by the ICC Women’s World T20 in November, India vs. Australia series in February 2019, the Indian Premier League in April 2019 and, finally, the ICC Cricket World Cup in May 2019.

“Hotstar has just completed its first year in the United States, and the response from the Diaspora has been phenomenal. As we embark on our second year, we have a comprehensive cricket calendar for fans and enthusiasts in the U.S., who have come to expect this level of engaging and premium programming from our platform,” said Hotstar International president Ipsita Dasgupta.

Hotstar has introduced an annual subscription for $99.99, which will give consumers complete access to the cricket calendar and entertainment library throughout the year. For monthly subscribers in the US and Canada, an entertainment pack is now $9.99 a month, and a sports + entertainment pack is $19.99 a month.

Hotstar offers TV shows, movies, sports & live news on-the-go. It is India’s largest premium streaming platform with more than 100,000 hours of drama & movies in 17 languages, & coverage of every major global sporting event.

Launched in early 2015, it is one of India’s most downloaded apps with 100 million downloads and has attracted more than 350 million followers.