DUBBING IS NOW A KEY PART OF NETFLIX’S INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY

Netflix’s content in most non-English speaking territories is made up of 90% foreign-language content, so the company’s local strategy for key markets such as Japan, France and Germany is now focused on dubbing, new research from Ampere Analysis has found.

The report says that even though Netflix’s focus on creating local original content has improved, it still only represents a minority of its catalogue. That is why Netflix has taken a “tactical approach to dubbed content”.

In large markets like Japan, over 40% of titles are dubbed and nearly every programme has subtitles. In Netflix’s four largest EU markets – France, Germany, Italy and Spain – 60% of foreign content is dubbed. Dubbing in these languages also can translate to other markets in Latin America, Africa and Canada.

However, this 60% rate is still behind other European streamers, Ampere noted. Joyn in Germany and Mediaset Infinity in Italy both have almost all of their content dubbed, although their libraries are much smaller than Netflix.

In Scandinavia, Netflix has low levels of dubbing, but this is also the case with other players like Viaplay. That is because a large number of viewers in the region are either fluent English speakers, or have a familiarity with English-language content, making dubbing less necessary.

“For Netflix, the level of localisation of foreign language titles largely depends on the markets. In English-speaking countries, Netflix’s strategy is to localise foreign titles via English subtitles, while in other key markets, such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan, the streaming giant makes certain that most foreign titles are either subtitled or dubbed – catering to local content preferences,”  said Tingting Li, Analyst at Ampere Analysis.

“For other markets, such as Russia and Turkey, which represent a smaller portion of Netflix’s subscriber base, and thus harder to justify extensive localisation investments, between 13%-28% of content is localised – but we expect this to change as market penetration grows,”  she added.