Industry News

Netflix’s non-English shows paid off big in 2021

21 December, 2021

When Narcos first premiered in August of 2015, it felt like a bit of anomaly. Here was a network that clearly had its sights set on disrupting television, and it was hedging its bets with a show half in English, half in Spanish. Six years and an entire industry revolution later, Netflix’s bet doesn’t look nearly as surprising. After years of investing in non-English language shows, in 2021 Netflix proved that it was right. The future of TV is international.

Narcos was soon followed by other series… Spanish-language hits like Ingobernable, 3%, and Cable Girls came to the network as well as broader international hits like the Danish The Rain and the German Dark. But in years past, these success stories have largely played out in the background as American audiences have flocked to English-language hits like Stranger Things, Ozark, and 13 Reasons Why. This year, that hasn’t been the case at all.

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