Disney’s Hotstar India streaming service plans to cut down account sharing in an effort to restrict password sharing in a key market.
It will allow only its premium users to login from four devices.
Background
This comes as rival Netflix in May started informing subscribers in over a 100 countries they will need to pay more to share the service with people outside their household.
In India, a premium account of Disney+ Hotstar allows logins on as many as 10 devices.
This, despite the website which currently says “number of devices that can be logged in” is four.
Initial hesitation
A source said that the OTT platform did not enforce the four-device login policy for fear of inconveniencing premium users and with the hope that they would eventually opt for their own subscriptions.
It had also found that only around 5% of its premium subscribers logged in from more than four devices.
However, now with India emerging as a market of importance, Disney is now taking this approach to maintain revenue growth.
The new restriction will also apply to its cheaper plan which will limit usage across two devices.
Market share
The OTT space in India is dominated by major players such as Disney, Netflix, Amazon and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s JioCinema.
It is set to grow into a $7 billion market for the sector by 2027, Media Partners Asia estimates.
Currently, Hotstar is the market leader in terms of users with approximately 50 million.
Sitting on top
Disney’s Hotstar topped India’s streaming market between January 2022 and March 2023 with a 38% share of viewership.
Meanwhile, rivals Netflix and Prime Video held 5% each as per data from research firm Media Partners Asia.
Enforcement
Disney+ Hotstar has internally tested enforcement of the policy.
It plans to begin implementing it later this year to limit logins at four for such accounts.
“Some people will be incentivised to buy” their own subscriptions with new restrictions in place, said a source with direct knowledge.
