.jpg)
As our recent Trend Report, Are You Still Watching? revealed, the ‘peak TV’ era is well and truly over.
Fewer new shows are being commissioned and viewing on global streaming platforms has predominantly shifted to licensed, rather than original content.
This shift comes at the same time that the global streamers – once market disruptors, but now the go-to destination for home entertainment – have switched gears to pursue profitability and sustainability over market growth.
But how has this change in strategy affected original programming? And how are viewers across the globe reacting to this change?
Nostalgia viewing influences content strategy
The rising viewing to licensed content, which you can read more about in our last Insights column, is not only due to the decreasing number of original series being launched, but also another key trend in viewing behaviour.
Nostalgia viewing is evident in patterns of consumer behaviour on major streaming platforms across the world. So much so that in 2024, nine out of the 10 most-viewed shows, when ranked by hours viewed, were licensed titles. Of these, six out of the 10 first debuted in the noughties or earlier, with U.S. sitcom Friends premiering in 1994.
This isn’t just a result of less original content being launched. Viewers are actively seeking out familiar long-running shows and the industry is feeding this appetite.
Young Sheldon is a spin-off from The Big Bang Theory, with both appearing in the Top 10 chart above, while further spin-offs and revivals of many of these titles have launched or are soon to launch, from Suits LA to Dexter: Resurrection.
This is a trend that Digital i has been tracking for sometime and which we highlighted in our March Insights column, which you can read in full here.
Existing IP favoured over original concepts
This audience demand for familiar content goes beyond reboots and spin-offs, however, with new Digital i data demonstrating how shows based on pre-existing IP outperform original concept series.
We analysed the top 25 new shows on Netflix, Disney+, Max and Prime Video, globally, during 2024 to understand how many of them were based on original concepts and how they performed.
The results clearly showed that more series based on existing IP made it into the top 25 per platform in 2024 than shows based on original concepts.
Netflix was the only major global streamer of the four included in the analysis to have more totally original shows (14) enter the top 25 of 2024 than titles based on existing IP.
On Prime Video, Max and Disney+, at least 72% of their top shows were based on pre-existing IP in comparison to the 44% on Netflix.
Super-serving local audiences
So, what if you don’t have access to well-known IP with a large following like The Last of Us or Fallout (you can read more about the metrics of Fallout’s streaming success here). Does that mean your show is doomed to fail?
Not at all. This change in the market has created a new opportunity – through content that super-serves local audiences.
Many titles perform very well in their home markets, without breaking out as a global hit. In the case of Envidiosa, the Argentine comedy reached 66% of the Netflix audience in the domestic market last year, scoring a high 81% completion rate.
Although viewing to the series is much lower outside of Argentina, the show’s completion rate remains above 50% in all markets, suggesting high loyalty among those global fans that discover it.
However, sometimes, if a show resonates with audiences outside of its home country, a local hit can become a global success. Netflix’s Korean scripted phenomenon Squid Game needs little introduction – but when looking at the numbers, the series drew significant local engagement upon its original launch with 25% of total streams in the first 45 days occurring within the first five days of launch.
Outside of South Korea, viewing peaked more than two weeks later as viewers around the world found the show and its global reputation exploded.
Would you like to know more?
To read our latest streaming Trend Report, click here.
It's a tough market for producers and studios, right now. But the right quality data and expert team support can give you the edge on your competition.
Digital i data proves the value of your content to global subscribers.
No one knows viewers like Digital i.
