India's 2 Richest Bringing Their Fight To Media Space Spells Trouble For Netflix, Disney

Indian OTT space is heating up with the country's top two billionaire tycoons —  Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani — gearing up to compete against each other. This is unlikely to be good news for Netflix Inc NFLX — which is already reeling under the carpet with a huge subscriber loss, amid the intense competition — and other U.S. companies like Amazon Inc's AMZN and Walt Disney Co's DIS that have a significant presence in the country.

What Happened: The business magnates with dominance in several sectors are doubling down on India's media sector. While Reliance Industries CEO Ambani already has a strong presence in media through his ventures like Jio and Viacom18, Adani recently chose to enter the media sector with new venture AMG Media Networks. 

Gautam Adani-owned Adani Group last week announced the incorporation of its wholly-owned subsidiary to carry on the business of media-related activities. The arm will deal with publishing, advertising, broadcasting, and distribution of content over various media networks.

With AMG Media Networks, Adani is looking to rival the likes of Amazon Inc's AMZN PrimeVideo, Netflix, Walt Disney Co's DIS Disney+ Hotstar. 

Meanwhile, Ambani's local joint venture with Paramount Global, Viacom18 Media, is also set to receive $1.8 billion in a funding round led by James Murdoch-backed Bodhi Tree Systems. 

Why It Matters: Netflix, which reported its biggest subscriber loss in almost a decade, has "quietly" cut down on a number of series and shows that were in the pipeline — Meghan Markle's new family-friendly animated series 'Pearl' being one of them. 

Earlier, reports also indicated that Netflix's Indian arm is looking to revamp its India content scheduled for release in the near future. 

The Indian cluttered over-the-top (OTT) industry is growing rapidly with fierce competition from top media giants. Doubling down on the market presenc,e Amazon's Prime Video recently announced that over the next two years, it will launch 40 new titles in various regional languages in India.

Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, Netflix stock closed 4.78% higher at $199.4 on Monday.