Hotstar: Disney+ Hotstar’s FY22 net loss narrows to Rs 343.16 crore

Novi Digital Entertainment, the company behind the Disney+ streaming platform. Hotstarreduced its net loss for fiscal year 22 by 43% to Rs 343.16 crore from Rs 600.77 crore compared to the previous fiscal year.

The Star India-controlled company’s operating income rose 93% to Rs 3,220.41 crore for the fiscal year from Rs 1,670.63 crore a year ago, financial data released Toffler.

Revenue growth was driven by large facilities such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the 2021 ICC T20 World Championship.

Advertising revenue more than doubled to Rs 1,684.31 crore from Rs 829.74 crore.

Subscription revenue jumped 65% to Rs 1,373.61 crore from Rs 830.96 crore.

And revenue from licensing content rights increased more than 16 times to Rs 162.49 crore from Rs 9.93 crore.

According to one executive with knowledge of the matter, the platform derives almost two-thirds of its revenue from sports broadcasts. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been the largest source of revenue both in terms of advertising and subscriptions. “Disney + Hotstar ad revenue from IPL is at least Rs 1,000 crore+. The IPL is also an important driver of subscriber growth for the platform,” the source added.

An email requesting comments sent to Disney Star remained unanswered until press time.

Disney Star was the sole owner of the television and digital rights to the IPL until the 2022 season.

However, starting next season, IPL will be broadcast on the Viacom18 Jio Cinema platform. star sport will continue to be the facility’s official broadcaster.

Novi’s spending rose 66% to Rs 3,822.11 crore from Rs 2,304.8 crore. Advertising and promotion spending rose 47% to Rs 704.46 crore from Rs 479.63 crore.

The company’s licensing fees rose by 84% to Rs 1,304.60 crore from Rs 708.61 crore. The cost of rights and programs jumped 98% to Rs 785.80 crore from Rs 397.64 crore. Technical costs jumped 45% to Rs 392.84 crore from Rs 270.17 crore.

In its income statement for the fourth quarter ended October 1, Walt Disney reported that Disney+ Hotstar paying subscribers jumped 42% to 61.3 million from 43.3 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year. Disney+ Hotstar’s average monthly revenue per paid subscriber dropped 9% to $0.58 from $0.64 last year.

Following the loss of IPL digital rights, Walt Disney lowered its Disney+ Hotstar paying subscriber target to 80 million for fiscal year 2024.

In December 2020, Walt Disney directed that Disney+ would have 230-260 million paying subscribers by 2024, with Disney+ Hotstar expected to make up 30-40% of that base.

Disney+ Hotstar currently offers over 100,000 hours of content, including TV shows, Disney+ original content, Hotstar specials, movies in eight languages, and sports.

The Disney+ Hotstar app has been downloaded by over 500 million users, making it one of the most downloaded apps in India. Additionally, Disney+ Hotstar had up to 221 million monthly active users between 2021 and 2022.