Los Angeles

Walt Disney is aiming to resurrect its streaming business in India by broadcasting free cricket on cell phones, believing that the move would increase advertising income and counter the impact of a customer exodus.

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The most recent data highlights that Disney's India streaming business lost $41.5 million on sales of $390 million for the fiscal year ending March 20, 2022.

The Indian Premier League (IPL), one of the world's most lucrative yearly sporting assets, was previously owned by Disney. However, JioCinema, which is owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Viacom18, paid $2.9 billion to acquire those rights and then made them available for free on the streaming site.

According to Disney, the free offering will reach more than 540 million smartphone users, with the goal of making the matches "accessible to as many mobile users in India as possible."

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With subscriber withdrawals quickening and reducing the user base by a third between October last year and July, the Burbank-based entertainment conglomerate's financial performance in the nation is projected to worsen.

Disney's difficulties are a warning lesson about the Indian market, where rising middle-class expectations are frequently thwarted by highly cost-conscious consumers.

Furthermore, according to two Disney officials cited by Reuters, the company realises that it miscalculated Indians' desire to pay; consumers signed up for Hotstar while it featured IPL but did not stick around to buy more expensive plans to view other material.

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"We were optimistic about Indian subscribers' willingness to pay. "That didn't work out," one of the insiders stated. "Free cricket is the only bullet that's left."

From August 30, the firm will stream live matches of the Asia Cup, as well as the World Cup in October and November, to 600 million smartphones in the cricket-crazed nation. Moreover, the new strategy comes as Disney is also exploring options of finding a joint venture partner or even a sale of its India business.

(Inputs from Reuters)

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