Let’s assume you are a content producer or distributor. Are you still on the sidelines in making a decision to localize your content or not for global markets? Then, please keep on reading to see how dubbing and subtitling has become the gateway to success on a global stage and gained traction to a scale that has never been seen before.
To start, I will briefly discuss three primary factors that have created a global audience who are more careful about what and how they engage with content. These factors are:
- The explosion of video streaming services in recent years
- Dubbed versions entering “anti-dubbing” countries
- Technological advancements in the translation and localization industry
Following this section, you will find out how to:
- Choose the Correct Localization Strategy for Your Business
- Analyze Your Case for Making a Sound Decision
- Under-the-Radar: French Content Market
SECTION 1
The Explosion of Video Streaming Services
Experts specializing in the localization industry argue that the increase in the number of streaming services has been a game changer. There is fierce competition among streamers to take the lion’s share. With more options to choose among these platforms, the streaming churn rate is simply getting higher. (For those who are not familiar with “churn rate'', also known as attrition rate, it is the rate at which customers stop doing business with a company over a given period of time.) As a result, service providers look for ways to retain their viewer base.
Making shows and movies in local languages lies at the core of such endeavors for streaming giants such as Netflix. These companies not only diversify their content library in terms of subject matter and genre to satisfy different tastes, but also produce content in other languages than English and put great emphasis on bringing them to both English-speaking audiences and other languages. This creates a space where dubbing enters countries that are traditionally known as anti-dubbing countries.
Dubbed Versions Entering So-Called “Anti-dubbing” Countries
There are some countries which are traditionally associated with preferring dubbed content such as France and Germany (dubbing countries). On the flip side, there are countries where dubbing tradition is not established such as in the United States. But the situation is changing. Netflix invests in content created outside the U.S., and some have attracted a great deal of attention. Remember the Spanish Original Netflix “La Casa de Papel” or South-Korean drama “Squid Game.” Encouraged by the high watching times said shows recorded, Netflix decided to dub the two into English, which has become a trend for almost all “foreign” originals.
Netflix is not the only player in this field. Services such as Disney+, HBO Max and Paramount+ stand out with a full content of catalogs, and this simply means thousands of hours of programming must be appropriately localized.
Technological Advancements in the Translation and Localization Industry
With the demand for localized content increasing, the burden on localization providers and translators also grows. It is unrealistic to expect human translators and dubbers to take on the whole responsibility without the support of automation and tools that will ease their workflows. That is why organizations are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to streamline and accelerate workflows for dubbing, subtitling, and closed-captioning services. In a market space where global video streaming is expected to hit USD 330 billion by 2030, media localization companies can help overcome entry barriers by utilizing AI-powered dubbing and subtitling, a process shaped and verified by human translators, dubbers and linguistics experts.
SECTION 2
Choose the Correct Localization Strategy for Your Business
Foreign-language localization within the context of multimedia refers to a set of methods, such as subtitling, dubbing (also known as lip-sync), voiceover, and live interpretation on television. When it comes to audiovisual localization, subtitling and dubbing are the most widely used methods. It is worth noting that translation is only one part of this process. Dubbing and subtitling requires more effort than simply transposing a string of words from one language to another. Typically, movies and shows contain allusions to the original country's history, cultures, values and ways of life. To capture these allusions and nuances, translators must be familiar with the original culture and accents of the source language.
Analyze Your Localization Project for Making a Sound Decision
You have decided to localize one of your existing productions for a specific audience. Assume it is for French speaking audiences. Congratulations! The first step towards going global is done. Welcome to the next challenge: how to localize this content for a new market.
Although other strategies are available, it is mostly through subtitling and dubbing that audiovisual content becomes accessible to people speaking different languages. Therefore, you should know the dominant consuming habits of the target audience. Do they prefer dubbing more than subtitling? If so, what is the reason for this? Would it not be worth using both dubbing and subtitling to offer your new audience a premium experience?
If you have to make a choice between the two, the fail-safe approach is to observe the dominant tendencies of the market and take steps in this direction. A final decision made on a case-by-case basis hardly lets you down.
Under-the-Radar: French Content Market
At the rest of this article, you will see some statistics and findings I gathered from multiple surveys and reports. Not only content distributors but also individuals such as translators, students and scholars, and of course audiences can benefit from the French case and gain insights about the factors that impact decision-making processes in the localization industry.
Geographic Segmentation: It was quite Francophone
For starters, it should be noted that France is more accustomed to dubbed content than to reading subtitles, much like Spain and Germany. A primary reason for this is that Hollywood has been distributing films for decades and it adopts dubbing as the well-established method to satisfy the expectations of a market which is dominated by high numbers of domestic productions.
An analysis conducted by Parrot Analytics in 2017 revealed five countries whose original titles saw the highest demand in France. The US dominance, with 37.1% of the demand in comparison to the average demand of an original French title in France, was closely followed by Japan shows, with 36.8% of the demand. Italy, Canada and Norway were consecutively ranked in the list. The reverse analysis showed that the highest demand for French content came from Africa with 18.1%, followed by Europe with 15.9%.
Key takeaway: French content has retained Francophone tendencies. It is safe to say that there is a yet-to-be-explored French market out there. The right media localization company can bring French shows to global audiences and reversely introduce local titles to French audiences by using the right strategies.
Tax Initiatives and Changing Habits
Since Parrot Analytics conducted this study, we have passed through unprecedented events that turned our lives upside down. During the months when the Covid-19 pandemic was in full swing and forced people to stay indoors, streaming platforms and social media channels served as a panacea for our need to remain connected to the world. Content producers had to slow down, if not fully stop, shooting new shows and find creative solutions to repurpose their existing content for different platforms and tastes. In this sense, the pandemic was a golden opportunity for the localization industry, so to speak. It seems even in France, a country which is widely known for being “resistant to international content” and preferring dubbing when viewing content not in their native language, the mindset has slowly begun shifting.
The state initiative Tax Rebate for International Production (TRIP) is believed to massively increase the international spending on French TV, with a rate of 38.8% in 2021 in comparison to one year earlier. Dramas such as StudioCanal’s Paris Police 1900 – which has been sold to Sky Germany and SBS in Australia – and the Alliance’s La Jeune Fille et la Nuit are highlighted as high-achieving outcomes of the tax initiative.
According to the Unifrance’s annual report, Germany and Austria remain the top market for French programming, followed by the UK, Italy and the US consecutively.
Key takeaway: Events such as pandemics change societies and their viewpoints. As it becomes easier to access content with the spread of streaming platforms and social media, both organizations and individuals recognize the hidden value lying in exploring other cultures. It is important not to miss the momentum that the French market has gathered. Promising partnerships between TV broadcasters and streaming platforms can be established to bring international content to and from France. A further step would be to translate content in French into other languages with subtitling and dubbing. In fact, forward-looking companies have already learnt to take advantage of reaching global audiences with their existing content. W4TCH tv, a documentary production company from France, saw the benefit in getting closer to English-speaking countries and trusted AI-dubbing solutions such as Ollang to globalize a history documentary into English.
French Content Space at a Glance
- Total media time spent in 2021: Time spent with traditional media remains dominant, with a rate of 56.6% (5 hours 55 minutes per day, versus 4 hours 32 for digital media)
- Major TV broadcasters: TF1 and France Télévisions
- Independent production companies: Gaumont, StudioCanal, Films du Kiosque, and the likes
- International streaming platforms: Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+
- The share of French programming on SVOD services: on a global scale 1,5% (900 shows excluding France) as of 2021
Latest Developments:
- French government’s implementation of the European Audiovisual Media Service directive into French law. This requires global SVOD platforms to invest 20% of their French revenues into local production.
- Tax Rebate for International Production (TRIP), an initiative which has propelled international spending on French content. It may yield promising results if broadcasters, streaming platforms and localization companies achieve strong partnerships.
In a nutshell:
Video content production is growing fast, with no expected slowing down in demand. This creates a strong desire to engage with the content produced in local languages. As a content distributor, you should be aware that the so-called insurmountable resistance some countries such as France and the U.S have against global content can be easily overcome by choosing the correct localization method. Understanding the key dynamics of the targeted market and analyzing viewership tendencies as well as changes in established habits are key to making a sound decision.
Last but not least, cooperating with a trusted media localization partner specialized in international storytelling completes the missing piece of the puzzle. The demand burden on translators has soared in a parallel way to the international content boom. Luckily, technology has come to the rescue. Localization providers should assume the responsibility of developing the most innovative content localization solutions built on a cooperation between AI-powered technology and humans. This will help create a more reachable and liberating media landscape by driving the quality up and prices down, especially for dubbing services.