Disney+ Hotstar will stop streaming HBO shows from March 31 as the streaming platform has ended its partnership with HBO. It means popular titles such as Game Of Thrones, The Last Of Us, House Of Dragons, Succession, won’t be available to stream for Indian viewers from the next month. This comes after Disney CEO Bob Iger announced cost-cutting measures and restructuring at the company.
The streaming platform confirmed the news on Twitter. “Starting 31st March, HBO content will be unavailable on Disney+ Hotstar. You can continue enjoying Disney+ Hotstar’s vast library of content spanning over 100,000 hours of TV Shows and Movies in 10 languages and coverage of major global sporting events.”
Hotstar sealed it’s deal to stream exclusive HBO content in India in December 2015 after the platform made its debut and Hotstar has been streaming HBO‘s original shows since January 2016. In fact these shows, particularly ‘Game of Thrones’, were an essential part of the streaming platform’s strategy to attract paid subscribers in India.
Last month, Disney reported that Disney+ Hotstar lost 3.8 million paid subscribers after it lost the streaming rights for the IPL tournament for the 2023-2027 period to Viacom18 in June 2022.
HBO has been streaming many new popular shows and old blockbuster shows that have remained popular decades after they first aired. It is not yet clear, where HBO plans to offer these shows to Indian viewers. Last year Warner Bros Discovery had signed a licensing agreement with Amazon Prime Video to offer a selection of original content from HBO Max in India.
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