Audience demand for international content is rising, while existing IP and local adaptations improve the odds of reaching scale. The strategic question is not whether to invest internationally, but whether a property should travel as an original import, a local adaptation, or a multi-market format.
- Demand can reveal breakout potential before distribution expands.
- Durability matters more than a large launch alone.
- Existing IP raises the floor, but execution still determines the ceiling.
International content is becoming a core portfolio decision
The shift toward international content is broader than any one language, country, genre, or streaming service. From 2022 to 2025, demand for content from other countries increased in 89% of markets, while demand for US content declined in 78%. Cross-border viewing is becoming a standard part of audience behavior.
The change is also visible inside the US. The share of audience demand captured by non-US series rose from roughly 22% in 2022 to 31.7% in 2025. Foreign-language content doubled its share of US demand from 6.1% in 2018 to 12.1% in the first half of 2026.
This does not mean local content has lost strategic value. It means the old split between “domestic” and “foreign” is becoming less useful. Viewers are building entertainment habits across a wider mix of countries, languages, genres, and platforms.
Streaming catalogs show different responses. In a June 2026 US snapshot, international series represented 65.8% of Prime Video’s catalog and 63.8% of Netflix’s, compared with 38.9% for Hulu and 12.2% for Paramount+. The figures are a point-in-time comparison, but the strategic divide is durable: some platforms use international breadth as a core proposition, while others remain more selective.
Audience demand can identify global breakouts before distribution catches up
Traditional ratings describe local performance, but they can miss latent international appetite. Money Heist is a useful example: Antena 3 ratings fell across its original run while global demand expressions nearly doubled. The title appeared to be weakening in its home window while strengthening as a cross-border acquisition opportunity.
Before Netflix made the series widely available, demand already existed at trace levels in countries including Brazil and Turkey. Once distribution matched that appetite, demand grew 249 times in Brazil and 370 times in Turkey. Spain, the home market, grew only 1.2 times over the same comparison.
The lesson is not that every faint signal becomes a global hit. It is that demand without broad availability can expose a valuable distribution gap. Buyers and rights holders should look for markets where audiences are already seeking, discussing, researching, or engaging with a title they cannot easily access.
Read alongside availability data, audience demand becomes a leading indicator for licensing, localization, and release decisions. It helps identify where distribution can unlock existing appetite rather than trying to manufacture interest from scratch.
Sustained audience demand separates durable IP from short-lived hits
Peak demand identifies scale; the shape of the curve identifies durability. Squid Game stayed above eight times average series demand for more than 120 days, far longer than a typical breakout Korean drama. That persistent floor created franchise value beyond the first release window.
For comparison, All of Us Are Dead peaked at 13.4 times average demand and fell below five times by its sixth week. Squid Game was still near seven times average demand six months after release. Fan-created videos, Halloween activity, awards attention, and other cultural moments produced visible holds in the curve rather than a simple weekly decline.
The second season showed what accumulated cultural penetration was worth. Its peak was more than six times the first season’s peak when the launches were aligned by premiere. After 13 weeks, demand still sat near the first season’s all-time high. The franchise had moved from slow-burn discovery to appointment viewing with a much higher demand floor.
A large premiere creates immediate attention. Sustained audience demand supports sequels, licensing, and stronger negotiating power across future windows.
Imports, adaptations, and formats solve different growth problems
International content strategy is not a binary choice between buying a foreign title and remaking it locally. Imports preserve the original creative proposition, adaptations can widen demographic reach, and formats can compound demand across markets. Audience demand helps determine which route best fits the property, audience, and commercial objective.
Import the original when it already travels
An original import can move quickly, preserve authenticity, and serve audiences already comfortable with culturally specific storytelling. In the US data, 67% of the audience for foreign imports came from Gen Z and Millennials.
English-language imports show that country of origin should not be confused with audience friction. US demand for Australia’s Bluey rose from 0.2 times average demand to a peak of 46.6 times over five years. It then held at roughly 30 to 35 times average through 2025. The sustained curve, built largely through word of mouth, made the property more valuable than a short-lived breakout.
Adapt when access limits the original
A local adaptation can extend the same IP to viewers who are less likely to watch the imported version. US adaptations of foreign IP drew 50% of their audience from Gen X and Boomers, compared with the younger skew of subtitled imports.
The adaptation does not need to replace the original. It can expand the addressable audience around the underlying property, especially where language, cultural familiarity, or viewing habits create a demographic ceiling.
Use formats when local versions strengthen the whole franchise
The Traitors demonstrates the multiplier effect of a successful format. The UK version remained strongest in its home market, while the US version traveled particularly well. Before the second US season aired, the UK version had already generated meaningful US demand and built awareness for the format brand.
Across all local versions, the franchise generated roughly three times more demand than any single version alone. Each production created value in its home market while helping audiences discover the wider franchise.
Existing IP raises the floor, but does not remove execution risk
Existing IP improves the odds of demand success. IP-based series represented only 12% to 14% of new premieres, yet accounted for roughly 40% to 50% of the 100 most in-demand series. Their median demand was about twice that of original concepts.
Their economic contribution was also disproportionate. Across the streaming platforms examined, IP-based adaptations generated roughly two to three times more revenue than their share of catalog. At Disney+, IP-based titles represented 22% of the catalog but contributed 55% of revenue.
Established characters, worlds, and fan communities can reduce the probability of a severe demand failure. That helps explain why rights command a premium. But awareness is not durable demand. Netflix’s live-action One Piece retained an eight-week demand floor higher than Cowboy Bebop’s peak, despite both drawing on recognizable anime IP.
For investors and content executives, existing IP should be treated as a risk-adjusted input, not a substitute for creative and commercial judgment.
How executives should use audience demand in content and IP decisions
Executives should treat audience demand as a decision layer across acquisition, development, adaptation, and distribution, not as a post-release scorecard. The most useful signal is often the gap: demand without availability, a strong peak without durability, or a franchise whose combined versions are worth more than any single title.
- Find under-distributed demand. Track markets where appetite exists before a title is widely available. These signals can inform territorial rights, localization, platform selection, and release sequencing.
- Separate peak from floor. Compare launch scale, decay rate, longevity, and the effect of cultural moments. A smaller title with a durable floor may create more long-term value than a larger title that disappears quickly.
- Choose the right route for the audience. Import the original when it already travels. Adapt when language or demographic access limits reach. Use a format when multiple local productions can strengthen a shared franchise.
- Value the property, not only the title. Measure demand across seasons, adaptations, local versions, characters, and adjacent extensions. Franchise value often sits in the relationships among these assets.
- Read demand against supply and availability. High demand is most actionable when a relevant market, genre, or platform is under-served. The commercial opportunity comes from the mismatch, not popularity alone.
The next global breakout may already be visible
The global content market is not converging around one universal taste. It is becoming more connected while retaining meaningful local differences. Audience demand shows where appetite already exists, how far a property can travel, and which commercial form is most likely to capture its value.
The next global franchise may already be visible in a market where the title is unavailable, in a demand curve holding longer than expected, or in an adaptation whose audience extends beyond the original. The advantage belongs to decision-makers who can see those signals before distribution, pricing, and market consensus catch up.
Next steps:
- Download the presentation we shared at Televerse 2026.
- Explore Parrot Analytics’ DEMAND360 to analyze global audience demand and compare title, market, and portfolio performance.
- Reach out to the Parrot Analytics team to discuss how demand data can support content, distribution, and investment decisions.
