COVID-19: Walt Disney company delays Disney+ launch in India

The Walt Disney Company has confirmed that the Disney+ launch will not take place on the earlier announced date of March 29. The launch was planned to coincide with the start of the Indian Premier League 2020.

The Walt Disney Company APAC President, and Star and Disney India Chairman Uday Shankar has confirmed that the scheduled launch of Disney+ in India through Hotstar has been postponed to a later date due to coronavirus concerns.

“We recently announced that Disney+ would launch in India through the Hotstar service in conjunction with beginning of the Indian Premier League cricket season. Given the delay of the season, we have made the decision to briefly pause the roll-out of Disney+ and will announce a new revised premiere date for the service soon,” said Uday Shankar.

Earlier this month, Hotstar had rolled out the updated version of its app for Android phones, Android TV devices as well as the Apple iPhone and iPad to gear up for the launch of the Disney+ service as part of the Hotstar package. At the time, certain Disney+ content had also been made available to Hotstar subscribers, as part of the Hotstar VIP and Hotstar Premium subscriptions.

The company in run-up to the grand Disney+ launch in India with the start of the IPL on March 29 had earlier this month branded Hotstar as Disney+ Hotstar. Inside Sports