Non-English Shows Now Make Up Half of What Netflix and Disney+ Buy
Non-English shows now account for at least half of the titles that Netflix and Disney+ acquire. Acquiring means buying or licensing a show from another producer, rather than making it in-house. The figures come from research firm Ampere Analysis, as Deadline reported on 29 October 2026.
As of September, non-English content made up 65% of Netflix acquisitions and 50% of Disney+ acquisitions, according to Ampere. Japan and South Korea were the leading sources of Netflix's bought titles. For Disney+, German and Japanese content topped the list.
Ampere also named four countries it sees as the strongest openings for buyers: Japan, France, South Korea and Turkey. It said each combines high demand with relatively few shows exported. Only 40% of Japanese streaming content is available worldwide. In South Korea, 45% of titles are sold only on the country's own streaming services.
Buyers are already moving. Ampere said the United States and South Korea are the largest buyers of Japanese streaming content that can be acquired, with France and Germany also showing relatively high interest. It added that the Middle East and Southeast Asia are the most likely buyers of South Korean romantic films and series.
The trend started well before September. In February, Ampere found that 52% of Netflix's original TV releases in 2025 were non-English, as Variety reported. The same research found Netflix had become more reliant on acquired Japanese titles, and expected Korean content to keep growing in strategic importance to the service.
Viewers are also paying more to watch. In August, Ampere found that streamer price rises were pushing consumers toward the limit of what they are willing to spend on subscriptions.
