Netflix and Amazon “ordered the majority of their titles from outside the U.S.” last quarter and are shooting ahead of rivals in the global commissioning race, according to research from Ampere Analysis.
Ampere predicted these platforms’ international spend will continue to rise after finding that they greenlit more than half (53%) of the world’s overall streaming commissions during the first three months of 2024.
Netflix commissioned more than 200 shows and movies in Q1, with Amazon behind on around 140, according to Ampere. This represented Netflix’s biggest quarter for three years and was a record for Prime Video. Streamers such as Disney+, Paramount+ and Apple TV+ trailed far behind.
The growth is “spurred by increased investment in international territories,” Ampere said, pointing out that the two streamers now order the “majority of their titles from outside the U.S.”
While competitors rowed back, the first quarter of this year was characterized by splashy slate announcements from Netflix in the likes of the UK, Germany and Poland, and Ampere said Netflix’s Western European commissions “almost achieved parity” with North American titles for the first time during the quarter. The past few months has seen international breakouts like Netflix’s Baby Reindeer and Amazon’s Maxton Hall – The World Between Us
Meanwhile, the pair of streamers went big in key territories such as India and Korea. Amazon’s Asia Pacific commissions were dominated by Indian productions with a record slate of 37 titles, which was more than the previous six quarters combined, according to Ampere. Crime and thriller content was a focus in India, which is predicted to become Netflix’s largest subscriber hub in the region as it seeks to compete more closely with Amazon.
On the movie side, Ampere said Netflix has decreased the commissioning of domestic original movies but upped international movie orders in territories like the Nordics, Asia Pacific, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Mariana Enriquez Denton Bustinza, an Ampere Senior Researcher, said “market saturation in North America, the growing cost of production, and the lingering impact of the Hollywood strikes have pushed Netflix and Amazon to increase investment in international productions to stimulate subscriber growth.”
“While several studio-backed SVoDs have made cutbacks internationally, these two streaming giants are doubling down on their localized global strategy,” she added. “For Netflix, this means catering to a broad subscriber base while leaning on markets whose productions offer the greatest potential for crossover appeal. Meanwhile, Amazon’s approach remains more heavily targeted towards key markets such as India, while it leverages its global position to expand further into the theatrical market to generate downstream revenues from its platforms.”