While increasingly more consumers are turning to streaming
giants for content during the lockdown, it is encouraging to learn that
consumers are still buying relatable local content.
With over 70% of internet
users watching local content regularly in China, the US and India, these three markets are found by
Ampere’s Consumer media and entertainment tracker to have the highest proportion of respondents watching local
content.
Streaming giants Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are meeting
this gap as they beefed up local content in international markets – with
increased focus on Asian markets like Japan and India.
Netflix has produced more than 180 Netflix Originals in the South-east
Asian region over the past three years, revealed Netflix CEO Reed
Hastings at an event in 2019.
As for Amazon Prime Video, whose subscribers stood at more
than 10 million in 2019, Japan is its largest consumer segment, but as English
is not widely spoken in the country, local content is key. Similarly, Netflix’s
Japanese catalogue represents the most localised catalogue of any of its
international territories.
Tingting Li, an analyst at Ampere Analysis, said: “Although
both Netflix and Amazon Prime are ramping up local content in international
markets, it still represents a small percentage of their catalogues.
“In most of their markets, less than 10% of catalogues are
locally-originated; however, in some countries, government regulations, quotas
and the impact of foreign OTT platforms are driving the trend to localisation. And
looking ahead at in-production titles for Netflix, for example, over 50% of all
new movies and series will be produced outside the US.”