Netflix has "not been successful" in scaling up its business in India despite the global streaming giant consistently cutting the subscription costs in the country, analysts at AllianceBernstein wrote in a report to clients Thursday.

The US streamer has about 6.5 million subscribers in India, compared with Prime Video's 20 million in the South Asian market, the analysts wrote. Disney+ Hotstar continues to dominate the market with over 40 million subscribers.

According to AllianceBernstein, the major reason why Netflix has been not growing so much in India as they are in other markets is a lack of local content in the service. Netflix has only 12% of its available titles, while close to 60% of the Prime Video's catalog in that country is in domestic languages.

The poor reception in India comes despite Netflix continually lowering the prices in the country even as it has virtually raised the prices in all other key markets. Netflix inked a "first-of-its-kind" deal with Jio Platforms, India's largest telecom operator, to bundle the streaming service with the carrier's pay-as-you-go plans in August.

Maybe the lesson from India is both a need for a higher density of local-language content, as described above, but also a recognition that in many emerging markets, value is less tied to a comparison with other streaming services and more tied to a much lower cost of linear TV or Internet video. India, for example, is likely YouTube's largest market, and a key growth area for social media names, the analysts wrote.

Netflix didn't respond to a request for comment.

Disney's Hotstar remains the most dominant service in India, which it has been since 2018, thanks to cricket. It has consistently attracted millions of live viewers during matches. In fact, the platform is even offering free streaming of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup, an event that will last over 45 days, to all mobile users. Now, JioCinema, the latest addition from the pocket of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, knows what Disney does, or seems to be learning in short order: buy a few high-profile cricket games and the house gets stronger.