Web Shows — A Cultural form of Economic Imperialism
What comes to your mind when you read these two words — “Web Shows”? None other than the Over the Top (OTT) Platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Zee 5, Hotstar Disney, and many more.
But what made these platforms so popular? The demand for them has been on a rise, providing their audience access to a diverse variety of shows from different cultures and languages.
The popularity, and in turn, the demand of these platforms was further accelerated during the COVID-19 lockdown, when people had a lot more time on their hands. Binge-watching various web shows and series became common — to an extent that by the time lockdown ended, most of the people were emotionally connected to these shows.
One can bet that you must have come across at least two or three people who are obsessed with either anime (Japanese) or dramas, be it Korean, Turkish, Thai, or any other. According to a 2019 report by YouGov, a UK-based online market research and data analytics firm, 55% of Indians watch foreign language content.
In a way, these cross-cultural shows have created their separate markets within the video streaming platforms, creating mutual financial benefits for both the original production house and the streaming platforms, in terms of increasing the number of subscribers. Do you remember the last time you grooved on Gangnam Style with its hook step? Yes, that was the beginning of a cross — cultural wave.
Fig 1: Streaming Subscription Services with the most subscribers
Talking about Netflix (carrying the largest number of subscribers, as shown in figure 1), its 2017 Spanish original series, ‘La Casa de Papel (Money Heist)’, was the streaming service’s most-watched international series in a non-English language. In 2021, ‘Squid Game’ broke all the records (let’s dive into some figures). After its launch, it gained 4.4 million subscribers in the third quarter of 2021 — to the already 213.5 million subscribers globally. In addition, it also forecasted that it would have 222 million subscribers for the next quarter. As a result, the company’s stock went up by 2% and its revenue jumped by 16% to $7.4 billion.
Fig 2: Share of Netflix Production Markets
In 2021, Netflix invested over half a billion dollars in Korean content. Cut to the present — in 2022, it is doubling down the content and predictably 25 Korean films and series have been released this year — out of which, ‘All of us are Dead’ has already become the most talked about show. In addition, it also signed a multi-year content production and distribution agreement with Korean media entertainment company, CJ ENM, and its subsidiary, Studio Dragon — to produce original content and stream existing shows.
Fig 3: Netflix Growth in the Asia Pacific Region
According to the above figures, the company grew due to a 57% contribution (more than half) from Japan & Korea.
And, thus to compete in the market, Amazon Prime also introduced many dramas from different cultures to binge on. Even the local platforms in India — for example, MX player launched MX VDesi — which offers a large catalogue of international shows, dubbed in seven local languages. Dish TV and d2h platforms introduced a feature called ‘Korean Drama Active’ where one can watch their favorite shows dubbed in Hindi, to reach a wider audience.
But, the story doesn’t just end here. Why? Because even the top English-language fashion magazines like “Vogue” and “Elle” now regularly feature South Korean beauty products, endorsed by popular actresses. And, who does not know about the famous Japanese Brand — Miniso?
These cross-cultural shows have influenced people abroad to explore their culture. For example, their cuisine (ramen, kimchi, sushi, etc.), cosmetics, language (a lot of colleges have now started providing courses for various foreign languages) and even the stuffed toys from Miniso and the clothing style — have all seen a huge rise in demand, especially in India.
The influence is more evident concerning Korea and Japan as compared to other industries because these countries don’t have a big enough market to sustain their entertainment industry and thus try to expand abroad by using their soft power in the form of cultural expansion and boosting their countries’ reputation. However, there is a limited impact in terms of China. The reason being — it has less of an economic need for entertainment companies to look abroad, since it already has a huge domestic market because of its population.
The development of culture and economy are two of the most indispensable elements of social structure. Thus, it is no surprise that countries are using their culture to market themselves abroad to attract tourists, thus positively contributing to the service sector of the economy.
Author : Surabhi Parida