HBO content leaves Disney+ Hotstar from March 31; subscribers demand their money back: 'Why would I continue now'
Some bad news for good TV lovers has come in. Looks like all HBO content would be removed from Disney+ Hotstar from March 31st.
Indian fans of HBO shows are upset after a recent tweet by Disney+ Hotstar. The streamer, which currently hosts all of HBO content for viewers in India, has announced that it will stop doing so beginning March 31. (Also read: Twitterverse reacts to The Last of Us Episode 8's rollercoaster of emotions)
In a recent tweet by Disney+HS_helps, the streamer wrote, “Hi! Starting 31st March, HBO content will be unavailable on Disney+ Hotstar. You can continue enjoying Disney+ Hotstar’s vast library of content spanning over 100,000 hours of TV Shows and Movies in 10 languages and coverage of major global sporting events.”
HBO lovers were quite upset at this news and began demanding their money back. “My subscription got renewed last month. Request you to process a refund on a pro rata basis,” wrote a person. “How one can get refund, if subscribed for whole year? Without F1, HBO, why would even I continue to pay? Please share the procedure to initiate refund, as I want to terminate subscription,” asked another. Another suggested, “It is time to reduce your subscription price.” Another blamed HBO for getting too greedy. “Ah, hbo got greedy. now a separate sub for hbo content apart from disney content. it was too good till it lasted I guess. so now will have to choose from disney or hbo, expensive to keep both,” they wrote in a tweet.
This change comes a month after Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that they will cut $5.5 billion in costs, including $3 billion in non-sports related content and $2.5 billion in non-content related costs. Disney had also laid off around 7,000 employees.
Currently, viewers enjoy hit HBO shows such as The Last of Us, House of the Dragon, Succession, Severance, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and many others through Disney+ Hotstar. Since 2016, Indian fans have been able to watch HBO content on the same day as its US telecast. It is not yet revealed where the HBO content will be available now.
