Global viewers spending less time watching American content
Global viewers spending less time watching American content
A survey from Digital i shows that international audiences are spending less and less time watching American-made productions.
Whatever happened to baseball, apple pie, and watching TV shows made in the good ol’ U.S. of A? One major effect of the spread of streaming is the further decentralization of content production, which has spread around the globe to countries like the United Kingdom, South Korea, India, and many other territories. That’s having an effect on international audiences, who are spending less time watching American-made content according to a new study from Digital i.
Key Details:
- Seventh heaven: Digital i’s report found that global viewers watch 7% less content made in the U.S. than they did in 2020.
- Still a majority domestically: Sixty-two percent of viewing in the U.S. in Q2 was spent on American content.
- Continuing trend?: In 2024, Netflix’s content spend internationally bested its domestic outlay for the first time.
The research from Digital i shows that between the first quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2025, viewing time of content created in the United States on Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video declined by 7%, falling from 52% to 45% in the 19 countries surveyed for the study — Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, the U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Poland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Australia, South Korea and Japan.
Correspondingly, time spent watching productions made outside the United States rose from 37% to 45% by the second quarter of 2025. In other words, global audiences now spend as much time watching TV and films made outside the U.S. as they do shows made stateside. The remaining 10% of viewing time is accounted for by titles that split production between the U.S. and other countries.
In the U.S. itself, viewership of American-made titles has remained more or less steady in the past five years. American viewers spend 62% of their viewing time watching shows and movies made domestically, and 25% watching content made globally. The other 13% of the time is spent viewing shows and movies that are made in the U.S. and elsewhere.
This could well be a continuing trend, as streaming services are making more and more content outside the United States for various reasons. In 2024, Netflix’s international content spend outdistanced its outlay in the U.S., and global audiences are hungry for more streaming content.
American audiences may be even more isolated from internationally made movies in the future, as President Trump levied a 100% tariff on productions made outside the U.S. on Tuesday. Political opponents of the president have argued that U.S. productions would benefit more from tax credits, but the result could have ripple effects on audiences the world over.
Is your favorite show made in the United States or outside the country? Do you plan to spend more time watching American-made content in the future? Tell us about your habits in the comments below.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”