Netflix’s International Buying Power Shows Why Countries Require Streamers to Invest in Local Content
It’s no secret to Netflix enthusiasts that the service is veritably awash in content from South Korea. That country produces more titles for Netflix than any other besides the United States, and more than 60% of global Netflix customers watched at least one Korean title on the service last year.
But a new report from Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw indicates that Netflix’s successes aren’t necessarily trickling down to content creators in South Korea. Shares of Studio Dragon Corp., which produced the Netflix hit “The Glory,” have dropped 25% this year, despite Korea’s stock benchmark rising around 10% in the same timeframe. Jeongin Hong, whose firm SLL signed a multititle licensing agreement with Netflix in 2016, says fears are rising that Netflix is gaining too much influence over the Korean entertainment industry.
“As a studio and as a producer, I’m a little concerned that Netflix has been the only channel global audiences can watch Korean series on,” Hong told Bloomberg.
Netflix is essentially the only global streaming service with a major presence in South Korea, giving it the luxury of picking and choosing only the best projects to bring to global audiences. It also has an outsized hold on the Korean viewing public; Netflix accounts for 33% of streaming subscribers in that country, twice as many as the next-largest Korean service TVing.
This level of influence explains why so many global territories have strict rules in place requiring streamers to invest in local content. The Canadian government recently passed such a law, which stipulates that streamers must contribute to the production of local titles, and must also promote content made in English, French, and Indigenous languages.
Netflix did not register a public protest to that law, but it is fighting back against a bill currently working its way through the parliament of the United Kingdom. That bill would compel streamers to portray any current events through an impartial lens, without political or social commentary that favors one side. Netflix says this bill is too nebulous and doesn’t give properly-defined boundaries on what will be considered acceptable in the future.
In the United States, concerns over giving Netflix some form of competition are less pronounced, as many of the world’s other largest streaming services like Disney+ and Max are also based domestically. That means there is robust competition for the distribution rights to movies and TV shows, but that isn’t the case internationally. There are so few companies outside the U.S. with the financial presence to go toe-to-toe with Netflix, and content creators are faced with the choice of going with a large, faceless monolith or risking their title not being seen by a global audience.
“Directors want international fame and international coverage,” says Hong. “That can only come from Netflix.”
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.