M+E Europe

It’s a wide and varied world of content preferences out there, and in Europe especially, with viewers in places like Germany and Italy vastly preferring their content with local language dubbing, and consumers in places like Finland and Sweden choosing subtitles over a dub any day.

That was just one of numerous data points Lottie Towler, senior analyst for research firm Ampere Analysis, shared 25 Feb. at the Content Workflow Management Forum, “M&E’s Premiere Localisation Event.”

Her presentation — “Analysing Consumer Demand for Localised Content” — offered content companies guideposts on how to present their growing catalogues of international content. And in an increasingly crowded streaming market, knowing how to target viewers in different countries can make all the difference in subscriber retention.

“Increased streaming competition has to led to audience fragmentation and the need to differentiate through content,” Towler said. “This makes original and exclusive content even more important. And having a large international presence becomes competitively and financially advantageous.”

Major streamers like Netflix and Amazon are increasingly diversifying their catalogues, with 2020 being the first year where less than 50 percent of those two companies’ content was from North America, with content from Western Europe seeing the biggest jump in content share, according to Ampere data.

“Demand for localised content with subbing and dubbing is increasing in this space,” Towler said.

However, the consumer preferences for local vs. international content varies widely across European markets, with viewers in Norway and the Netherlands vastly preferring U.S. content vs. local, while Turkish consumers preferring local content over American. Viewers in the UK and Poland are split 50-50.

“The importance of international content is very clear,” Towler said. “But the way consumers watch their content varies significantly by market.”

Younger viewers are less set in their content viewing ways, and are more open to subtitled content in its original language, Towler shared, while those over the age of 35 prefer a dubbing in their native language.

The Content Workflow Management Forum was produced by MESA, the Audio Business Continuity Alliance, Content Localisation Council, Smart Content Council, and the Hollywood IT Society, with sponsorship by Iyuno Media Group, Richey May Technology Solutions, Whip Media Group, Deluxe, Digital Nirvana, Meta, Vubiquity, EIDR, Keywords Studios, Los Angeles Duplication & Broadcasting, Nexus TV, OOONA, Signiant and Titles-On.