With Star World slated to go off air, sources say Indian originals to directly stream on Disney+ Hotstar app
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; June 26, 2020)

In the wake of Star India pulling the plug on its English entertainment channel, Star World, questions have arisen over the fate of some Indian originals. Sources inform that most shows commissioned by the channel will now stream directly on Disney+ Hotstar, the digital arm of the media network, which will creatively co-produce the offerings.

It is learnt that the decision to axe the channel was prompted by its poor performance following the OTT boom in India. A source informs, "With many of Star World's international series available on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, the viewership had dropped considerably. Now that Disney has entered a joint venture with Star, changes are being made to the content slate. The top brass of Hotstar are in talks with the producers of Indian originals, including Koffee With Karan and MasterChef India. While the next season of Karan Johar's chat show is not slated until next year, the upcoming edition of the cooking reality show will stream directly on Disney+ Hotstar. The suits at the streaming service are also initiating new tie-ups to bring more shows to the roster."

mid-day reached out to Star World, which remained unavailable for comment.