Disney+ Hotstar now has 50.1 million paying subscribers, bringing Disney+’s global subscriber base to 137.7 million. This means that Disney+ Hotstar’s contribution to the Disney+ user base is now approaching 36%. Disney+ Hotstar has become the fastest-growing Disney+ segment, up 42% year over year, while core Disney+ global subscribers are up 28%. Disney+ Hotstar had 43.66 million subscribers at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. It added 2.6 million users in the first quarter of 2022 and another 4 million in the second quarter.

The latest edition of the wildly popular Twenty20 cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, is one of the main reasons for Disney+ Hotstar’s growth in India. Disney CFO and Senior Executive Vice President Kristen McCarthy also made a point of this during the entertainment giant’s quarterly earnings call: “We ended the quarter with nearly 138 million paid Disney+ subscribers worldwide, reflecting the close A net increase of 8 million. [2022]. More than half of the net increase came from Disney+ Hotstar, which benefited from the start of the new IPL season at the end of the second quarter. Internationally, excluding Disney+ Hotstar, we added more than 2 million paying subscribers compared to the first quarter, with Latin America being the strongest contributor, driven by growth in the Combo+ product. “

The 2022 edition of the IPL season started on March 26 and is scheduled to end on May 29 later this month. Since Disney mainly offers annual plans, most of the subscribers it gained from IPL 2022 in the last quarter will be reflected in its numbers throughout the year.

Disney revealed on its quarterly earnings call that Disney+ Hotstar has concrete plans to expand further, with 100 shows in India soon. Streaming services are also expanding their territory. It will be launched in the Philippines later this year in partnership with telecom service provider Globe Telecom. Disney+ Hotstar will also launch in Vietnam later this year, but a partner has yet to be announced.