Korean, Spanish-Language Content Continues to Get More Popular in the US
Korean dramas and Spanish telenovelas are driving huge demand in the U.S. as foreign language content becomes more popular overall.
The days of American audiences having interest solely in English-language television shows are long gone. That’s according to new data from Parrot Analytics, which has been tracking the increase in popularity for non-English content in recent years. Streamers are helping to lead the charge, and the rise of streaming has helped Korean and Spanish-language content become the two “most significant” foreign languages in the TV ecosystem of the United States.
Key Details:
- Demand for foreign language shows jumped to 17% of total TV demand in the third quarter of 2024.
- The drama genre is responsible for nearly 65% of demand for Korean TV shows domestically.
- Spanish soap operas are also driving outsized demand, particularly among women.
The data from Parrot shows that overall demand for foreign-language shows is increasing, jumping from 12.8% of all TV demand in the first quarter of 2022 to 17% in the third quarter of 2024. Korean and Spanish content in particular are leading the charge in the United States, and in both cases, audiences are showing a clear preference for specific genres.
Dramas are a huge driver of demand for both languages. In the Korean language segment, drama accounts for 64.9% of demand for all Korean shows, thanks in part to the success of titles like “Squid Game.”
Demand for Spanish content is led by telenovelas. Parrot found that 56% of demand for Spanish-language content was for dramas, with the ubiquitous soap opera subgenre playing a key role. Spanish news programming is also driving big demand in the United States.
Parrot’s data also delves into who is watching this type of content, specifically. Women, and especially younger women are creating a large portion of demand for both Korean and Spanish titles. “Squid Game” is something of an outlier with broad demographic appeal, but there is a clear demand for more Spanish and Korean content from younger women.
The notable exception is in the news programming segment. “Noticero Univision” and “Noticias Telemundo” both attract older audiences that tend to be more evenly split along gender lines.
Streamers are already paying close attention to these trends, trying to serve as both tastemakers and meet customers where they are at the same time. Netflix — which hosts “Squid Game” — is spending more money to create content internationally than it is domestically for the first time in 2024, a sure sign that it knows its audiences want more foreign-language content.
TV trends are always shifting with the audience, but there’s a clear and growing demand for non-English titles in the United States. Korean and Spanish titles are leading that demand, and Parrot’s data shows that audiences are particularly interested in watching dramas in these languages.
Netflix
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