Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma helping Disney+ Hotstar fight back Mukesh Ambani's JioCinema, Rs 24789 crore bet paying off

Virat Kohli failed to reach the iconic milestone of 49 ODI centuries in a tough ICC World Cup 2023 clash against New Zealand, however his 95 run inning helped India to secure the win and retain the top spot at the points table. Surprisingly, Virat Kohli’s marvelous inning not only helped team Indian but it also backed Disney+ Hotstar’s comeback in the streaming battle against Mukesh Ambani’s JioCinema. India vs New Zealand ODI World Cup clash set a global streaming viewership record with peak concurrency of around 43 million viewers. It is the highest digital viewership for any cricket match. With the feat, Disney’s streaming platform surpassed the previous record that was made last week with peak concurrency of around 35 million viewers during the India vs Pakistan match.

The new viewership records are a good sign for a reviving Disney+ Hotstar steaming service which took a major hit after Mukesh Ambani owned JioCinema started to stream IPL and other India matches for free. Due to the absence of cricket, Disney+ Hotstar lost around 12.5 million subscribers for its third quarter that ended on July 1. The platform had 40.4 million subscribers at June-end, down nearly 21 million since October last year.

To win back the viewers, Disney+ Hotstar decided to live stream the Asia Cup cricket tournament and the ICC Cricket World Cup for free on smartphones. Although Mukesh Ambani grabbed the rights to broadcast all Indian cricket team bilateral matches for Rs 5959 crore, Disney+ Hotstar managed to renew media rights to show International Cricket Council's tournaments in India from 2024 to 2027 after winning a bid for Rs 24789 crore.

With the recent viewership reports, it seems that following the Mukesh Ambani plan to win the customers is working for Disney+ Hotstar.