Report Charts Increasing Popularity of International Content

About 27 percent of the 100 most popular titles available on SVOD platforms around the world today were produced outside of the U.S., according to a new study from Ampere, up from 15 percent back in 2017.

American content has for years dominated globally, with local content prevailing in individual markets. That balance of power is beginning to shift. English-speaking and European markets still have the lowest appetite for internationally produced content, Ampere reports, largely as a result of strong domestic film and TV production sectors, but receptiveness to overseas shows is increasing. Between 2019 and this year, the biggest gains in the number of respondents watching overseas content were seen in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada.

“It has been gradual, but our analysis shows that the audience for internationally produced content is growing in the key revenue-generating English-speaking and European markets,” says Rahul Patel, senior analyst at Ampere Analysis. “SVOD subscribers in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada, in particular, are tuning in to content produced overseas, and the major global SVOD platforms like Netflix are driving this trend by commissioning high-quality non-English-language titles and by increasing the number of foreign-language titles in their catalogs.”

Patel continues, “The pandemic offered a boost to internationally produced content as production shutdowns and release delays led to locked-down viewers looking further afield for shows and movies to watch. As the SVOD players expand geographically and continue to make high production value titles in a multitude of global markets we expect the demand for overseas produced content to further increase.”