#Cineplay hotstar series#

Outside of India, the Disney+ Hotstar service also operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, which similarly combines entertainment content licensed from local, third-party studios, with the larger Disney+ library.

#Cineplay hotstar series#

The co-branded service added Disney+ original programming, and films and television series from its main content brands of Walt Disney Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and National Geographic alongside the domestic and third-party content already carried on the platform.

Amid the significant growth of mobile broadband in India, Hotstar quickly became the dominant streaming service in the country.įollowing the acquisition of Star India's parent company 21st Century Fox by Disney in 2019, Hotstar was integrated with the company's new global streaming brand Disney+ as 'Disney+ Hotstar' in April 2020. The brand was first introduced as Hotstar for a streaming service carrying content from Disney Star's local networks, including films, television series, live sports, and original programming, as well as featuring content licensed from third-parties such as HBO and Showtime among others. What will happen to Hotstar when Disney launches its own global direct-to-consumer channel, Disney+, is unclear.Disney+ Hotstar (also known as Hotstar ) is an Indian brand of subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Novi Digital Entertainment of Disney Star and operated by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, both divisions of The Walt Disney Company. Hotstar’s owner, Star India, is operated by 21st Century Fox, whose entertainment assets are in the process of being absorbed by Disney. Past Hotstar originals include news satire “On Air With AIB” and filmed play series “CinePlay.” Hotstar also draws on a library of films together totaling 100,000 hours across 18 languages, and enjoys a near-stranglehold on the rights for cricket, India’s most popular sport. The commissioning of Hotstar Specials marks a major shift from the regime of former CEO Ajit Mohan, when the company was more circumspect about original programming created exclusively for the streaming platform as opposed to shows created for its sister television channels in the Star Television Network.

All of that we are seeking to change with what we try and do with all of these shows.” it has to be around 30 minutes or one hour in duration. “In television, one of our constraints is the experience is around an appointment viewing, so the show has to start at 9:00 p.m. “One of the opportunities in digital is that we can keep on changing the format,” Banerjee said. The Hotstar Specials will be a minimum of six episodes each, with longer lengths being determined by the filmmakers, Banerjee said. While the names of the individual shows or their budgets were not revealed, the first of them will begin streaming by the end of March. Its move into original content will focus “on big-scale, high-quality drama,” Gaurav Banerjee, President and Head of Hindi General Entertainment Channels for Star India, told Variety.

Driven by cheap data charges, streaming is becoming an important platform in India, with aggressive competition between Hotstar, Netflix, Amazon, Eros Now, Sony Liv and Viacom 18’s Voot. Hotstar is the market leader, with about 150 million active monthly users. The expansion into original content comes as the race heats up for online viewers in the world’s second-most-populous country.