Netflix Doubles Down on International Content as US Viewers Embrace It

When Netflix elevated local-language programming executive Bela Bajaria to head global TV, the streaming giant seemed to signal its commitment to making local-language programming a central tenet of its global programming strategy. Less than a year later, that effort is paying off in a big way. Since 2019, the company has seen non-English language viewing in the U.S increase by 71%, Bajaria told reporters at the Television Critics Associations’ annual summer press tour, held virtually this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Almost all the streamer’s U.S. members—“a whopping 97%,” Bajaria said—have watched at least one non-English title in the last year. (As of last month, the streamer has 74 million U.S. and Canada subscribers.) “It was just last year when director Bong Joon-ho stood at the Oscars and asked audiences to overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, and on Netflix, that is happening,” Bajaria told reporters, referencing the Parasite director’s now-famous acceptance speech encouraging audiences to embrace foreign-language films. “The last two years have proven to be a watershed moment for local language content.” Earlier this year, the success of French-language heist drama Lupin, which is the No. 1 most-popular series on Netflix this year, highlighted the payoff possible in that strategy. As the streamer readies a heavy fall programming plan, it is leaning even further into catapulting locally specific stories to global audiences, especially as many of its hit series return. Netflix’s Global Content Ambitions Look a Lot Like Lupin Toss a coin to your Witcher One of the biggest titles to return to the service this fall is The Witcher, the fantasy drama series adapted from the bestselling Polish book series. The Henry Cavill-led series, the first season of which was watched by 76 million households in its first four weeks on Netflix, will return for Season 2 on Dec. 17. The show had been just three weeks into production of the second season when Covid-19 descended and shut down filming. Show creator and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich said that while production was on hiatus, the creative team went back to the scripts and made revisions that shaped the season that is now working through post-production. “We actually got the chance to really look at the scripts as a whole and to see what was working so far and what wasn’t,” Schmidt Hissrich told reporters. “For us, what we really wanted to refine was the relationships between Yennefer, Ciri and Geralt, and to make sure that the stories weren’t becoming too plotty and too much just about the action.” The writer also took fan feedback from Season 1 into consideration, and she has dialed back time skips that can sometimes confuse viewers and has looked for more subtle ways to play with time, including by using memory as a storytelling vehicle. “We try to make sure we’re not just telling the simplest version of a story, we’re telling the best version,” she explained. Netflix is on board with the creator’s vision. The streamer has entered into a multiyear agreement with Schmidt Hissrich in which she will write and produce additional scripted series and other creative projects at Netflix, the company announced today. Among those will be her executive production work on the scripted prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin and the anime series The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. “We could go through like Season 20 or something,” Schmidt Hissrich said. “I love The Witcher. My heart is in The Witcher, so I will be here as long as fans keep showing up and wanting to watch.” A packed fourth quarter As Netflix looks to build out the Witcher franchise, some of its most-popular global series are coming to a close. The fifth and final season of La Casa de Papel, known in the U.S. as Money Heist, will have its first half debut on Netflix on Sept. 3, with the second half of the finale premiering Dec. 3. That series has also been a global phenomenon, drawing 65 million households to watch the series, Netflix has previously said. But there are other new series on the horizon, and Netflix previously told investors it was expecting a jam-packed back half of the year due to Covid-19-related production and postproduction delays. Those returns run the genre gamut. Netflix is bringing back the third season of the social media reality competition show The Circle beginning on Sept. 8, with new episodes dropping weekly through Sept. 29. Also coming to the streamer this fall are three adult animated series, including Inside Job, the adult animated series from Shion Takeuchi, who wrote for the ABC series Gravity Falls, as well as a live-action remake of the acclaimed anime series Cowboy Bebop starring John Cho. New seasons of series like On My Block, Narcos: Mexico, Lost in Space and Locke & Key are also returning, among others. More shows are in the pipeline as Netflix continues to pour money into its original content business. Never Have I Ever, the critically acclaimed series from Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher, has been renewed for a third season, the streamer said today.