Disney+ Hotstar Will Cease Streaming HBO Content From March 31; Potential Amazon-Warner Bros Deal Reportedly In Works

Starting March 31, HBO content will be unavailable on Walt Disney Co DIS Disney+ Hotstar in India, the latter tweeted.
HBO’s catalog, including shows like Succession, The Last of Us, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Game of Thrones, Industry, Watchmen, The Wire and Veep, will leave Disney+ Hotstar starting March 31.
Simultaneously, Amazon.Com Inc AMZN may broaden its partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc WBD in India to stream more HBO content there, TechCrunch reports citing industry analysts.
The loss of the premium offering from HBO will hurt Hotstar, which used cricket and the international catalog as the pillars around which it courted a loyal customer base in the South Asian market.
Also Read: HBO Max Returns To Amazon Prime To Boost Topline
In the past two years, Disney has made broader changes within the company and visibly cut down the spending on Hotstar. HBO has scrapped plans to launch HBO Max in India.
In February, some Disney+ Hotstar users in India faced disrupted services during a famous cricket match between India and Australia. Hotstar acknowledged it as “unforeseen technical issues” across its apps and web. Domain registrar records show that Hotstar renewed the domain name, Hotstar.com on February 17.
Hotstar, one of India’s leading streaming services, lost the streaming rights of the popular IPL cricket tournament.
Price Action: DIS shares closed higher by 0.34% at $99.40 premarket on the last check Wednesday.