2020 has surely been doomsday for thousands of businesses around the world.
Although there is one industry which laid down the fundamentals of our content and information consuming experience and enjoyed the fruits of success, The Over the Top platforms.
‘Liberating’ is the word many people use to describe these platforms, most of which are free from state censorship and contain a variety of genres.
The number of OTT platforms has sped in the last couple of years; not many, though, have succeeded as much as Netflix and Hotstar.
Two streaming giants, originally from two different locations, have managed to become household names because of the quality, controversy, and discussion regarding the shows that feature on them.
Although, in the same field and with a more or less similar type of audience, there remains a lot of difference between them.
Key Takeaways
- Netflix is a streaming platform that offers a wide range of movies, TV shows, and original content, while Hotstar is an Indian streaming platform that focuses on live sports and Indian TV shows.
- Netflix is available in most countries worldwide, while Hotstar primarily focuses on the Indian market.
- Netflix offers various content across multiple genres, while Hotstar focuses more on Indian sports and entertainment.
Netflix vs Hotstar
Netflix provides a diverse selection of original and licensed content from a variety of genres, and Netflix requires a paid subscription. Hotstar provides Indian entertainment content, including sports, live TV, and free ad-supported service.
Structurally, the payment option of Hotstar is dependent on the type of subscription the user chooses, VIP or Premium. Netflix has no subscription layer; it determines the nature of payment according to the screen you prefer to view your content.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Netflix | Hotstar |
|---|---|---|
| Created in | 1997 | 2015 |
| Subscribers | 182 million | 73.7 million |
| Highest IMDB rated movie (2020) | Schindler’s list | Interstellar |
| Owned by | Reed Hastings | Star India |
| Country of origin | United States of America | India |
What is Netflix?
Developed in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, Netflix was a ‘Pay per rental’ DVD provider. Today it is the largest content streaming platform in the world.
Netflix was one of the first to start this business and make it big by moulding itself according to the needs of the times.
Netflix has over 183 million subscribers in 190 countries. It is unavailable in countries like Syria, North Korea, and China.
Along with gigantic bases all over the planet, Netflix is mostly famous for its content quality, the reach of the same, and linguistic diversity.
Netflix was the perfect thing to happen to the world in the late 20th century when the world was on the threshold of starting anew in many sectors.
The concept of piracy plagued many content creators and distributors around the same time. In the beginning, Netflix distributed authorized DVDs to people’s doorsteps.
The makers might have had no idea that a small DVD distribution would help sustain millions of lives 20 years later.
Netflix’s graph was parallel to the growing popularity of pop culture. When DVD players were the new market, Netflix launched the world’s first online DVD rental store.
On 10th July 2020, Market Capitalization declared Netflix the largest entertainment media industry. Netflix not only streams movies by different national and international banners but also has its own in-house production house, which makes movies worldwide.
What is Hotstar?
Owned by Star India and subsidized by Walt Disney, Hotstar (+ Disney) is India’s most successful online streaming OTT platform.
With over 300 million active and 18 million paid users, Hotstar tops the list of India’s numerically best OTT platforms.
Starting in 2015, Hotstar struck a chord with one of the world’s largest populations by streaming cricket matches in India. This decision turned out to be extremely beneficial for the platform.
During the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Hotstar garnered 340 million-plus views. The same year, it got 200 million views from streaming the cash-rich cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League.
4 years later, in 2019, the final match of the IPL attracted 18.6 million eyeballs and thus broke all records. Another match broke this record, the 2019 Cricket World Cup Semi-Final between India and New Zealand, with 25.3 million views.
The record is still unbroken.
Not many in India are fascinated by Western TV shows and the US, and UK specials, except for the urban population. Though infamous for the unintentional humour, Indian daily soaps still are the primary option of the majority in the country.
Although Hotstar has a 2 tier payment system, the Indian tv shows and the daily soaps are free. This fact has added to the popularity of Hotstar and made it a household name.
Main Differences Between Netflix and Hotstar
- Censorship – Netflix streams shows primarily uncensored. However, there are instances when Netflix had to edit scene two for convenience in certain countries. Hotstar here is more infamous for undertaking the acts of censoring content. Disney is one of the co-owners of the application; any comment or joke against Disney characters is censored.
- Subscription – Netflix has a single-tier subscription system; it only changes for different screens. Hotstar has two subscription options, VIP and Premium. Both of which provide a different range of content.
- The quality of a video on Netflix depends on the internet speed and cannot be altered manually. In the case of Hotstar, one can manually change the quality of the video.
- The highest quality of video on Netflix is 4K ultra HD, while that on Hotstar is 1080p (4k for premium)
- On Netflix, a video can be downloaded multiple times. On Hotstar, if users don’t watch the downloaded content in 7 days, they can never download it again.
- https://ozlance.com.au/storage/app/uploads/public/5a9/677/d25/5a9677d25f831826778081.pdf
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3735027
- https://irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1702527.pdf
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