Disney+ Hotstar has about 8 million subscribers

We finally know just about how many subscribers

Hotstar

has amassed over the years in India. “Approximately 8 million.”

Disney said on Wednesday that its eponymous streaming service has

hit 50 million subscribers

, nearly 8 million of whom are in India, where it launched its service atop of Hotstar this month

.

Five-year-old Hotstar is the most popular on-demand streaming service in India with

more than 300 million users

. The service and its operator, Indian network Star India, were picked up by Disney as part of its $71 billion deal with Fox last year

.

For years, people in the industry have been curious about Hotstar’s premium subscriber base to no luck. Best estimates suggested it had about 1.5 million to 2 million subscribers. Executives at rival firms have expected that figure to be lower.

In fact, a months-long analysis conducted by one streaming firm in India concluded recently that there were 2 million paying subscribers for music and video services. So 8 million is a huge milestone.

More to follow…