In a historic showdown at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final, Disney+Hotstar shattered its previous records, amassing an astounding 5.9 Cr concurrent views during the match.
Earlier, it recorded the highest ever live streaming views during the first semi-final match between India and New Zealand, of the ongoing World Cup, with 5.3 Cr live views.
Besides determining the fate of the playing teams, the World Cup is also a crucial factor that may determine the fate of the OTT major as it competes with its rival Jio Cinema in the sports live-streaming segment.
The development comes at a time when Disney is considering the sale of its entire Indian business as with each passing sports event, facing Jio Cinema becomes tough for it.
Though Disney struggles to score big in the sports streaming segment in the Indian market, it has retained a partnership with ICC for all its events. However, the OTT major has sold the telecast rights for ICC men’s and under-19 (U-19) global events for a four-year period from 2024 to 2027 to ZEE Entertainment Enterprises.
Interestingly, there have been reports about Disney’s plans to sell parts of its business in a cash and stakes deal to its rival Reliance. The official announcement of the development is likely to be made later this month. According to sources accustomed to the matter, as a part of the deal, some of Reliance’s media units may also be merged into Disney Star.
Also, other than Reliance, Blackstone is also in initial talks with Walt Disney to acquire a stake in the Indian arm of the entertainment giant.
The fumes of rivalry ignited between Disney+Hotstar and Jio Cinema with the transfer of IPL streaming rights to the latter. It further escalated when Jio Cinema set the record of ticking 3.2 Cr concurrent views during the final match of the last season of IPL.
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