Disney+ Hotstar has launched three new plans that will be available starting September 1. It seems that the video streaming service has increased the price of the VIP plan and has launched it as a Mobile-only plan. The price of the premium plan is the same, and the service has introduced one new plan.
The basic “Mobile” plan will start from Rs 499 per year and this one only supports one device. Currently, the basic Disney+ Hotstar VIP plan is priced at Rs 399.
Premium customers get access to all benefits including exclusive content from Disney+ originals and Hollywood movies and TV shows from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, HBO, FX, Showtime, 20th Century, and Searchlight Pictures. Now, Disney+ Hotstar is planning to offer the same content benefits to all users. This means Disney+ Hostar VIP will be discontinued.
Starting September 1, Disney+ Hotstar will offer three new plans including Mobile at Rs 499 per year, Super at Rs 899 per year, and Premium at Rs 1499 per year. The benefits for Premium users will remain unchanged with the added benefits of being able to view shows on 4 devices with video quality in 4K. Disney+ Hotstar Super users will get access to 2 devices with video quality restricted in HD. The most basic plan will be priced at Rs 499 and will be restricted to 1 mobile device.
Disney+’s overall ARPU in the January-March quarter 2021 was at $3.99, and excluding Disney+ Hotstar it was $5.61. However, Rayan said the company isn’t worried about lower ARPUs instead chooses to focus on what the local population can afford. “There is a huge fan base for Marvel movies in India and only when people have access to it, will we learn consumer preferences,” Rayan said explaining the latest strategy of making Disney+ content available on all plans.
The company also listed its slate of new shows including Ajay Devgn’s OTT debut Rudra-The Edge of Darkness, historical drama The Empire starring Shabana Azmi and Kunal Kapoor, medical series Human starring Shefali Shah and Kirti Kulhari and the second season of family crime drama Aarya. The new launches also include several thrillers and mysteries such as Six Suspects starring Pratik Gandhi and Richa Chadha, tech-thriller Escaype Live starring Siddharth and Javed Jaffrey, supernatural thriller Fear 1.0 starring Tisca Chopra and crime drama Gharshana, among others.
