SPANISH-PRODUCED TITLES ARE PROVING AN INTERNATIONAL HIT FOR NETFLIX

Spanish-produced titles are proving an international hit for Netflix. According to Ampere Analysis, the three most viewed titles on the platform over the week spanning March 23 to 29 were all made in Spain. “Elite,” “Toy Boy” and “The Platform” were the three most watched titles outside the United States, dominating across Spain and Latin America, but also showing strong uptake in major European markets such as France and Germany.

While around half of all Netflix Original and Exclusive titles have been internationally produced for the past few years, this proportion has recently started to increase again. Productions in English-speaking markets such as Canada and the UK now make up a lower proportion of productions, while the number of productions from Spain, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and India is increasing.

The increase in Spanish-language content is helping Netflix create an appealing service to its growing Latin American audience, which together with Spain, makes up around one third of international subscriptions. On the other side of the world, a similar story is taking place with South Korea, a market whose titles perform strongly across South-East Asia and Japan. For example, “Crash Landing on You,” a recent South Korean title, was a top five performer for Netflix in Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea in March 2020.

While some of these titles are Netflix original productions, most of Netflix’s Spanish and Korean content is licensed on an exclusive basis – where a title may be produced by a local broadcaster, with international rights then subsequently sold on to Netflix. According to Ampere Analysis, this arrangement provides a cost-effective way for Netflix to target key parts of its increasingly international subscriber base – with Spain and Korea currently acting as content hubs for wider regions.