Leading Indian digital broadcaster Disney+ Hotstar has announced that the much anticipated Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will be made available as free to view to all mobile phone users later this year. According to reports, more than 540 million mobile users across India will now have access to watch the mouth-watering encounter between top teams without subscriptions in India.
After witnessing the massive success of JioCinema streaming IPL 2023 for free, for the first time, Disney + Hotstar has decided to take a cue from their fellow compatriots to stream the continental event and World Cup for free in India. Hotstar has witnessed a loss in subscribers due to JioCinema streaming IPL 2023 free of cost.
As per the statement released by Hotstar, Sajith Sivanandan, Head Disney+ Hotstar, feels that they always have an enhanced approach to engaging the viewers and believes that Asia Cup and World Cup would take their platform to a wider range of audiences in the country.
“Disney+ Hotstar has remained at the forefront of the rapidly evolving OTT industry in India and the various innovations we have introduced to continue enhancing the viewer experience has allowed us to delight our audiences across the region. Making the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup available to a wider audience, we believe, will help us grow the overall eco-system,” said Sajith Sivanandan, Head, of Disney+ Hotstar.
Disney+Hotstar possesses the broadcasting rights for the Indian cricket team’s home matches and ICC tournaments as they have been awarded the rights to stream ICC tournaments till 2027 in India. Mobile users will be relieved that they will have the privilege to watch high-quality matches for free.
Hotstar gained massive record viewership during the Asia Cup 2022, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, and the Indian bilateral series in the country, and Star Sports had record viewership during the IPL 2023.
Despite the controversy on Asia Cup 2023 is looming, broadcasters and stakeholders confident about the continental played with PCB and BCCI coming to a conclusion over their stand in hosting the events, as the exact situation regarding the matter is expected this month, as Asia Cup is planned during September-October window.
The much-anticipated ICC World Cup 2023 is reportedly set to be held on October 5 to 19 November 2023. The format of the tournament, there will be 45 league games, 2 semifinals, and a final. A total of 10 teams will take part in the tournament in which two teams will select through the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.