Disney has acquired Star India which operates Hotstar globally, through the acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Disney plus Hotstar is one of the major OTT platforms in India. It is also extremely popular with the Indian audience in the United States.
However, Disney has decided to phase out the Hotstar US service which provides live cricket and South Asian programming to American audiences. The plan is to fully shut down Hotstar in the US by late 2022. However, the services will be still available as a bundle.
Starting from today (September 1st), Hotstar US subscribers who don’t currently have any other Disney streaming service will get the Disney Bundle (Disney Plus, Hulu, ESPN Plus) until their Hotstar annual subscription ends (rounded up to the end of the month) at no additional charge.
For the new subscribers, the three-service bundle is priced at $13.99/month. Previously, Hotstar in the US has cost $49.99/year.
