Hotstar Business From IPL - An Analysis of Its Huge Growth in Short Span

How in the world does a mobile TV app make money out of televised Indian cricket? Hotstar, that's how. Hotstar, the online streaming service owned by Star India, has become the official broadcaster of IPL matches in India. The sports content distribution giant's leap into the IPL broadcasting business is a big step toward Hotstar's quest to create a digital cricket viewing experience beyond anything available in the market today. To understand how Hotstar is making money out of the Indian Premier League, we shall look closely at their business model, especially their growth story in such a short period.

Hotstar Business Model
Reason For the Huge Success of Hotstar

• Hotstar Viewer Engagement
• The Rise in Mobile Internet Usage
• Hotstar Subscription Services
• Hotstar - IPL Global Audience
• Hotstar Advertising on Traditional Media
• Hotstar Personalized Ads

Hotstar Business Model

The Hotstar business model revolves around three main revenue streams: ads, subscriptions, and other revenue streams.

Advertising on Hotstar

Hotstar generates the bulk of its revenues through advertising. The company has been improving its advertising capabilities to attract more advertisers and increase ad spending. The company recently launched Hotstar Premium, allowing advertisers to run ads during live broadcasts such as cricket matches or other sports events at specific times.

70% of the revenue comes from advertisers wanting to advertise on a cricket platform during IPL.

Subscription Model

Hotstar offers two types of subscriptions – monthly or annual – both priced at Rs 199 per month (approximately $2). Hotstar competes directly with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video with this subscription model. They offer similar pricing for their services in India (although both companies have yet to launch here). This means that Hotstar needs to ensure its content offering is sufficiently attractive for consumers to choose it over competitors.

Reason For the Huge Success of Hotstar

Hotstar Viewer Engagement

Hotstar is experimenting with viewer engagement options that let you predict the next scores and win prizes.

Hotstar, India's premier destination for cricket, is experimenting with viewer engagement options that let you predict the next scores and win prizes.

The idea is simple: if you're watching a match and want to get involved in predicting what happens next, now you can. You'll be given a chance to predict the outcome of certain events within a match, like the next batsman to score or the next bowler to bowl. If your prediction is correct, you'll earn points that can then be redeemed for cash prizes!

In some cases, viewers can even select their prize: one lucky winner will get a free subscription to their favorite channel on Hotstar! It's an exciting new way for viewers to interact with their favorite content—and we're excited to see how it goes.

The Rise in Mobile Internet Usage

The rise in mobile internet usage has boosted Hotstar.

The recent IPL season was the most-watched ever, with Hotstar's live and catch-up viewing contributing to a total of 2.3 billion minutes consumed during the tournament. The platform also saw a whopping 300% growth in time spent on its app during the league compared to the previous year.

More than 269 million viewers spent around 60.6 billion minutes of live IPL streaming in the first week of 2020-21 IPL edition.

IPL is just one part of what makes up Hotstar's programming slate; it also hosts content from other leagues like La Liga, Bundesliga and Premier League as well as live sports events like Wimbledon.

Hotstar Subscription Services

Hotstar has done a great job converting viewers to subscribers by focusing on India's unique viewing patterns (viewers consume content on their phones).

They have also made it pretty easy for viewers to explore the offerings of its subscription services. The site's homepage is a huge curated list of popular shows, which is an easy way to find something new.

Users can also browse the site by genre, which helps them narrow down their options further. The user interface (UI) is simple and clean, making it easy to navigate the website. It also loads quickly and does not overwhelm users with too many options.

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Hotstar - IPL Global Audience

IPL has a global audience, so the stakes are high here.

Hotstar, owned by the same parent company as IPL, had to work hard to keep up with demand during this cricket season. But they did it! As a result, Hotstar saw an 82% increase in signups over the 2020-2021 IPL season. They also saw an average of 40 million viewers per match (a 63% increase over the 2020-2021 IPL edition).

It's not surprising that Hotstar was able to handle the increased traffic—they've been working on their infrastructure since 2016 when they launched their streaming app and platform. Since then, they've focused on building out their capabilities and improving their delivery mechanism to ensure that they can continue to deliver high-quality content at scale.

Recently Hotstar expand its reach into new territories such as Sri Lanka and Afghanistan—it now offers 12 languages across 159 countries!

Hotstar Advertising on Traditional Media

Traditional media has also started using Hotstar advertising media like Print, Outdoor, and Radio.

Hotstar has generated better returns for advertisers than traditional media by providing them with a platform that can be tracked with precision. The focus is on building brands rather than just promoting products.

This move was widely criticized by traditional media outlets, who felt that they were losing out on revenue due to the switch to digital platforms. However, this move has proven to be very beneficial for Hotstar: they have seen an increase in their user base by over 30% since they won the IPL streaming rights. They are also now able to provide advertisers with a more diverse range of options when it comes to advertising on their platform.

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Hotstar Personalized Ads

Hotstar is also experimenting with personalized ads.

Hotstar has a lot of things going for it. It's the only place to watch IPL matches in India, and their new personalized ads are a big hit with fans.

The company is also experimenting with personalized ads while IPL streaming to see if they can get people to buy products they see on TV during matches.

Hotstar is looking at making the most of its fan base by offering them more than just cricket. They want to make it easy for fans to watch what they want to catch up on the latest shows and movies.

Conclusion

Trillion-dollar opportunity lies in cricket in India, and Hotstar is a frontrunner when it comes to grabbing these opportunities.

A cricket-crazy country like India has a massive market for cricket-related content. Hotstar, who has partnered with one of the best teams in the world ( Indian Cricket Team) and IPL (Indian Premier League), is enjoying this benefit. A smart combination of live streaming, cricket highlights, post-game match commentaries, star interviews, and an online cricket merchandise shop has propelled it to be the most downloaded app from the play store in India.

FAQs

How much did Hotstar earn from IPL 2022?

Hotstar is speculated to have generated ad revenue of around $128 Million from IPL 2022.

What is the revenue of Hotstar?

The Revenue of Hotstar was recorded at $215 in December 2021.

How much Hotstar subscribers increased during IPL?

Disney+Hotstar paid subscribers crossed over 50 Million during IPL.

How much Hotstar paid for IPL broadcasting rights?

BCCI has given IPL Media rights to Hotstar for $4234 million.