iWorld
Disney, Pixar & Marvel movies available on Hotstar; exclusive deal signed
MUMBAI: This year Disney India has witnessed spectacular success with its Hollywood movies setting benchmarks that reflect the increasing popularity of English movies in the country. Similarly, Hotstar has emerged as a market leader signaling the rise of digital and mobile entertainment platforms. Hotstar has now announced a new studio partnership with Disney India to dramatically augment its Premium service. It has inked a multi-year SVOD deal with Disney India to showcase the studio’s biggest hits exclusively on Hotstar Premium in India which includes movies like Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Disney’s The Jungle Book and Moana, Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange, Disney.Pixar’s Finding Dory amongst others.
In addition, Hotstar premium subscribers will also have access to popular movies and classics from Disney’s library including Disney.Pixar’s Ratatouille, Brave, Toy Story 3; Disney’s The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest as well as popular American TV series from ABC Studios such as Castle and Desperate Housewives. Hotstar subscribers will be able to access this content conveniently through Disney, Marvel and ABC Studios branded sections on the homepage of Hotstar.
Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan said, “Over the last 6 months, we have established Premium as an exciting new service for an Indian audience that is interested in international stories. The deal with Disney is in line with our strategy of bringing the best of new shows and movies from around the world to our Premium subscribers. This partnership signals our continuing strategy: we will invest deeply and widely with the best story tellers in the world to ensure that Premium continues as the standout streaming service in the country.”
“Our movies have met with much success in theatres this year. This deal is important for us as it enables us to offer our movies across Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar brands and our ABC Studios’ TV shows to our audience wherever they are. Hotstar Premium is an ideal home for our content and it gives subscribers across the country, the chance to revisit their loved stories,” said Disney India VP Studios Amrita Pandey.
Setting its sights on shaping the connected TV experience in India, Hotstar recently appropriated the top spot on iTunes as Apple TV’s App of the Year for India 2016. The recognition came on the back of a breakthrough year in which Hotstar continued to lead and disrupt the Indian market place. The service now has more than 140 million downloads to date. According to third party tracking provider App Annie, that tracks app usage of video streaming platforms, more than 50 million users used the service in India in the month of December.
iWorld
T20 World Cup ’26: India–England semi-final sets global streaming record of 619 million views on JioHotstar
India–England semi-final records 65.2 million peak streams
MUMBAI: The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 set a new milestone in global sports streaming, as the India–England semi-final drew record digital audiences on JioHotstar.
The match on 5 March registered 65.2 million peak concurrent viewers, the highest ever recorded for a live event on any streaming platform worldwide. The semi-final also generated 619 million views, making it the most streamed T20 international match in history.
The landmark audience numbers were driven largely by viewers in India, setting a record achieved within a single market, rather than through aggregated viewership across multiple countries.
The high-scoring encounter between India national cricket team and England cricket team produced 499 runs across both innings, fuelling widespread fan engagement across platforms.
According to the International Cricket Council, the digital record surpassed the previous global benchmark of 65 million concurrent viewers, set in November 2024 by another international streaming platform.
Across television and digital platforms combined, the semi-final reached more than 320 million viewers, while total watch time exceeded 23 billion minutes, making it the most watched T20 international match ever.
“This World Cup demonstrates the immense passion of cricket fans and the progress made in bringing the game closer to audiences worldwide,” said ICC chairman Jay Shah.
“This moment reflects the scale of cricket fandom in India and the technological capability required to serve hundreds of millions of viewers simultaneously.”
JioStar vice-chairman Uday Shankar, said the audience surge underscored the future of large-scale digital entertainment.
“One in every three Indians tuned in to watch the second semi-final. Delivering such an experience at scale requires the very best of technology,” he said.
The 619 million views during the match also eclipsed the 533 million views recorded during the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
With the final yet to be played, the 2026 tournament has already set multiple benchmarks in audience reach and digital engagement.
India will face the New Zealand national cricket team in the final on 8 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The match will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and streamed on JioHotstar.
