Moreover, Hotstar memberships don't work across regions unlike Netflix. Most of Hotstar's licensing deals aren't extensive enough, which is why you can't download HBO shows and Disney movies among others. It's why the Hollywood content is only available in India, which also keeps varying as the rights keep expiring and need to be renewed. Like the big two, the size of Hotstar's content slate is dependent on the deals in place with content distributors. In the US and Canada, Hotstar is subscription-only.

That means users can access a portion of the content for free, while the rest of the content - labelled ‘Hotstar Premium' - requires a monthly subscription. Unlike Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, it relies on a “freemium” model, though that's only applicable in India. Hotstar is a video streaming service that is currently available only in India, the US, and Canada.

As Disney plans to roll out its own streaming service next year, Hotstar will certainly be in a curious position given Disney's pending acquisition of Fox, and it'll be interesting to see what happens. At the same time, it's stayed away from going too far into original content unlike every other platform out there, preferring to license content from international heavyweights such as HBO, CBS, and Fox, the last of which owns Star India. On the back of India's love for cricket, an ad-supported model, and the deep pockets of its parent company Star India, Hotstar has turned itself into the biggest streaming service in the country by most metrics.

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