Should you subscribe to Disney+Hotstar

Disney+Hotstar is an Indian subscription-based, video-on-demand streaming service that is operated by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution. The platform was launched in 2015, with Disney+ acquiring it as a part of the Fox-merger in 2020. You may also be surprised to learn that the platform has an international reach, with services in the UK, US, Canada, among other countries with a relatively limited capacity. As of January 2021, Disney+ Hotstar had a whopping 28.5 Million paid users.

Platform supported by: Android, iOS, and Desktop

Download and Onboarding experience: The size of the Android app is 23 MB and the download and onboarding experience is as smooth as it can get.

To get started, one has to begin by first selecting their language preferences.

The platform has the below-mentioned languages:

• Marathi
• Hindi
• English
• Telugu
• Kannada
• Malayalam
• Bengali
• Tamil

Subscription Plan:

The subscription plans for Disney+Hotstar are as follows:

What to expect:

Disney+Hotstar has the following in the bottom navigation bar for easy access:

• Home
• TV
• Disney+
• Sports
• News

It further has the below mentioned sections:

• Downloads
• Watchlist
• Movies
• Premium
• Trending
• Channels
• Languages
• Genres
• Preferences

The ‘Home’ section is divided into trailers of the latest shows/movies, watchlist, plugs for subscription, movies/shows currently being watched and widgets for the following:

• Latest and Trending
• Movies recommended for you
• Popular shows
• Shows recommended for you
• Popular movies
• Live news
• Best of Kids, etc.

The ‘TV’ section is divided into trailers of the latest shows/movies, plugs for subscription and widgets for:

• Shows you watch
• Top Picks for you
• Popular shows
• Popular channels
• New on disney+Hotstar
• Latest TV shows
• Popular in Reality
• Popular in Drama

The ‘Disney+’ section is divided into trailers of the latest shows/movies, widgets to choose the production house of your choice (Disney, Pixar, Marvel, etc.) and widgets for:

• Recommended for you
• New to Disney+
• Hit movies
• Trending
• Inspired by True stories
• Documentaries
• Action and Adventure
• Nostalgia movies
• Animals and Nature

The ‘Sports’ section is divided into a section for live matches, plugs for subscription and widgets for: 

• Popular sports
• Premier League
• ICC World test championship
• India’s Greatest test wins
• Formula 1
• Wimbledon
• US Open Tennis
• French Open Tennis
• Formula E
• Top Replays
• Popular in Cricket
• Popular in Football

The ‘News’ section is divided into:

• Live news
• Ads
• Live News
• Headlines
• Covid-19 Explosion
• Elections
• Entertainment

The ‘Movies’ section comprises of trailers of the latest films, ads, plugs for subscription and widgets for:

• Top picks for you
• Popular movies
• New on Disney+Hotstar
• Multiplex movies
• New short movies
• Bollywood Binge
• Popular in Romance
• Popular in Drama

The ‘Premium’ category, which is only for the paid (premium) users, is divided into trailers of the latest movies/shows and widgets for:

• New on Disney+Hotstar Premium
• New and upcoming on Disney+Hotstar Premium
• Oscar winning treats
• Laugh out Loud
• Action and Adventure
• Female Leads
• Super Thrillers

The ‘Trending’ section is divided into: 

• Trailers
• Plugs for subscription
• News
• Shows
• Movies

Some of the channels which you can access through Disney+Hotstar are:

• Hotstar specials
• Quix
• Star Jalsa
• Star Plus
• AsiaNet
• Star World
• HBO Original Programming
• Star Sports

Disney+Hotstar has 29 genres available for you to choose from. Some of them are :

• Romance
• Drama
• Family
• Reality
• Comedy
• Mythology
• Crime
• Action
• Talk show
• Lifestyle
• Teen
• Awards
• Wildlife

Design and experience:

The design is simple and not cluttered and the platform is divided into a plethora of widgets. This makes searching for content from the widget of your choice a piece of cake. There is an icon, ‘See All’ for each widget, which helps the user discover more content from a particular genre. 

The ‘Movie Detail’ page has the following elements:

• Trailers & Extra
• Runtime
• Poster
• Language
• Genre
• Certification
• Release year
• Synopsis
• Similar movies
• Option to Download
• Add to Watchlist
• Share

The ‘Show Detail’ page has the following elements:

• Trailer
• Popular Clips
• Runtime
• Number of Seasons
• Number of Episodes
• Episodes
• Option to watch in different languages
• Poster
• Language
• Genre
• Certification
• Synopsis
• Similar shows
• Option to Download
• Add to Watchlist
• Share

There is a toggle to make the option suitable for kids, called ‘Kids Safe.’ Once activated, the platform has content that is divided into widgets like:

• Top picks for you
• Popular
• Featured
• Age 2+, etc.

Recommendation Engine:

The recommendations Disney+Hotstar gives users are generated on the basis of the user’s language preference.

When English, Hindi and Kannada were selected, this is what the recommendations generated looked like:

When Telugu and Malayalam were selected, the recommendations changed:

Search:

• The trending and popular search sections are available only when a user clicks on the search bar.
• Users can search for a movie, show, video or even a play in the search panel.
• The search displays relevant results. For instance, when the title ‘Gone kesh’ was keyed in, the first title that appeared was a relevant result.

Sign in/Sign up:

One can sign in or sign up at any point using:

• Phone number and OTP
• Facebook
• Personal email ID and password

Pros & Cons:

Pros

1. The platform has sections that are divided into widgets, thus making it easier for users to find the content of their choice
2. There is a wide variety of content to choose from, given that the platform has numerous titles across eight different languages
3. Apart from movies and TV shows, the platform also has sports and news content for users to stream
4. By simply activating the ‘kids safe’ toggle, only the content suitable for kids will be available on the platform
5. There are various subscription options that a user can choose from
6. The platform allows users to download movies, TV shows and videos to watch when offline

Cons

1. The platform has no option to change language preferences once it is installed
2. There are no filters for multiple genres (only single genre content is available), year of release, etc. which makes it difficult for a user to filter out content based on their preference
3. There is no separate section for shows as there is for movies

Suggestion for the platform:

1. The platform should allow users to change language preference after the onboarding process is complete
2. Genre preference should be taken into account while onboarding
3. The platform can add IMDb ratings to the movie and show detail page so that users can make an informed decision while choosing what to watch

Why should one subscribe?

1. The platform has a vast content catalogue that is regularly updated with the latest releases
2. Apart from movies and shows, one can also watch content related to news and sports

Rating:

I would rate the platform a 9 out of 10 based on the pros and cons listed above.

A Disney+Hotstar subscription is recommended for those who want to watch the latest movies and shows out there. It is for those users who wish to pay for a subscription that allows them to consume content they are truly interested in.