Win more paying Disney+ Hotstar subscribers in India: segments, levers and metrics

You are a product manager at Disney+ Hotstar, the video streaming service. Lay out a strategy for growing its subscriptions in India: what you would focus on and why, what you would do, and how you would know the strategy is working. ```hint Split the growth problem More paying subscribers can come from new people starting to pay, fewer subscribers cancelling, or lapsed subscribers returning. Decide which of these, and which group of Indian viewers, has the most room before you list tactics, keeping in mind that price, device, payment and language barriers differ widely across the country. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is the goal more paying subscribers, more subscription revenue, or both? Would a cheaper plan that adds many subscribers but lowers revenue per subscriber count as success? - Which plans exist today, and are pricing and packaging open to change? - Do subscriptions sold through partners, such as telecom or device bundles, count toward the goal, or only direct sign-ups? - What time horizon: the next major sports season, or the next few years? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear goal and a growth breakdown (acquisition, conversion of free viewers, retention, reactivation), with a reasoned choice of where to focus - Segmentation of Indian viewers by what makes them pay and what holds them back, with a chosen target - Prioritized levers across content, pricing and packaging, distribution and payments, and the product experience, with their trade-offs - A plan for the churn that follows seasonal content such as big sporting events - A north-star metric with guardrails such as revenue per subscriber, churn and content cost, plus a way to test the main bets ### Follow-up Questions - A large share of sign-ups arrives just before a major cricket tournament and cancels when it ends. How would you keep them? - Would you launch a cheaper mobile-only or single-sport plan? How would you limit existing subscribers downgrading to it? - A competitor starts streaming similar content free with ads. How does your strategy change?