Reliance Jio starts removing Disney+ Hotstar bundled plans ahead of IPL season next year

• Reliance Jio has removed several of its Disney+ Hotstar bundled plans.
• The company’s Disney+ Hotstar bundled plans are now down to just two from eleven.
• Viacom18, owned by Reliance Industries, acquired the rights for streaming IPL from 2023 to 2027.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has changed some of its prepaid plans, removing most of its Disney+ Hotstar bundled plans. The telco has brought the Disney+ Hotstar bundled plans down to two from eleven.

Reliance Jio had partnered with Disney+ Hotstar to provide access to the popular OTT service bundled with several of its plans, offering subscribers access to the company’s huge collection of shows and movies, including popular Marvel titles, Disney collection and several of the company’s original shows and movies.

Jio reduces Disney+ Hotstar bundled plans to two

The company now offers only two plans that have Disney+ Hotstar subscriptions bundled – ₹1,499 and ₹4,199.

Both plans offer a 1-year subscription to Disney+ Hotstar Premium, the company’s top plan, which is priced at ₹1,499 per year. Earlier, the company offered access to Disney+ Hotstar Mobile and Disney+ Hotstar Premium subscriptions for three months and one year.

The ₹1,499 plan also offers 2GB data per day and unlimited calling for 84 days. On the other hand, the ₹4,199 plan offers 3GB data per day for 365 days.

Viacom18 getting IPL streaming rights may be the trigger

Apart from its vast library of movies and shows, IPL was one of the attractions of Disney+ Hotstar. The company lost the digital media rights to the world’s biggest cricket league to Reliance Industries-owned Viacom18.

Viacom18 paid a whopping ₹23,758 crore to secure digital rights for the Indian subcontinent for the 2023 to 2027 cycle.

While the company has not revealed anything yet, the company may introduce new bundled plans that offer access to IPL matches starting from the 2023 edition.

Disney+ Hotstar losing access to IPL may be one of the reasons why the company has decided to reduce its bundled plans.

Telco-bundled OTT platforms dominate the Indian OTT market

According to a report by JM Financial, nearly 85% of all OTT viewership volume in India comes from telco-bundled OTT platforms wherein viewers are not required to pay a subscription fee for the service.

Interestingly, the report also adds that Disney+ Hotstar is the only OTT platform in India that has built a large paying subscriber base, meaning this may not significantly impact the company’s viewership.

“EY, a consultancy firm, estimates that close to 85% of all OTT viewership volume in India come from telco-bundled OTT platforms, where customers don’t pay for OTT services. Disney+ Hotstar, owned by Disney, is the only OTT platform in India that has built a large paying subscriber base,” JM Financial said in its report.

Airtel and Vodafone Idea continues to offer Disney+ Hotstar bundled plans

While Reliance Jio has removed most of its Disney+ Hotstar plans, telcos like Airtel and Vodafone Idea continue to offer several plans with both Disney+ Hotstar Mobile subscriptions.

Business Insider India has reached out to Reliance Jio for a comment on this. The story will be updated once a response is received.

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