The Walt Disney Co. brings Hotstar to migrant workers in Singapore

To offer South Asian migrant workers residing in Singapore moments of respite during this uncertain and difficult time, The Walt Disney Company (through its subsidiary Novi) is working with the Singapore Government to bring the Hotstar streaming service to migrant workers during this period.

Starting immediately, workers can live stream more than 85,000 hours of blockbuster movies, cricket matches, Star India TV shows and live news on their mobile phones. Available in nine languages, the content offering includes more than 2,000 movies and 900 TV shows. The service is currently available only on Android phones in Singapore, but will be available soon on iPhones as well. This initiative ends on 21 July 2020.

“We understand many workers are grappling with the difficulties of living in isolation away from their homes and families,” said Mr. Howie Lau, Assistant Chief Executive (Media and Innovation), Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore. “We appreciate industry partners like Disney which have stepped forward to offer more content choices for the workers to bring them some cheer during this period.”

Uday Shankar - President, The Walt Disney Company APAC and Chairman, Star & Disney India, said, “We are honored to work with the government to bring Hotstar to migrant workers in Singapore. In these unprecedented challenging times, we humbly hope that by offering the workers content that speak their language and reach their hearts, we can help lift their spirits and bring some moments of comfort and inspiration.”

Disney is working closely with the Singapore government and migrant workers outreach groups to inform workers about this initiative at a grassroots level. As a start, migrant workers using Android phones can download the app on the Google Play Store to enjoy all the content Hotstar has to offer.

While Hotstar is currently available only to migrant workers, the service will open soon for subscriptions to other Singapore residents as well as being made available for iPhones. Hotstar recently surpassed 400 million downloads in India, making it the largest video streaming service in the country. The app’s success reflects its highly evolved video streaming technology and quality of experience across devices and platforms. Hotstar is owned by The Walt Disney Company.