• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, July 30, 2024

When Netflix comes a-callin’, sellers of TV shows and movies across the globe must roll out a red carpet.

The streaming service has emerged as possibly the leading customer for streaming content on the planet Earth.

Among the most noteworthy countries of origin for Netflix shows is South Korea. Netflix currently offers 308 Korean-language series and movies.

Nicknamed K-Dramas, in the manner of K-Pop, Netflix has introduced 20 Korean TV series so far this year. 

One of them premiered on Sunday -- “The Whirlwind,” a political drama (pictured above). Other titles that have premiered in 2024 include “Ghost Doctor,” “Doctor Slump” and “Korean Noodle Rhapsody.”

The shows are all in Korean, and as with other shows drawn from international markets, Netflix has user-friendly features to create subtitles.

Not surprisingly, Netflix is heavy on Spanish-language content -- 567 movies and series, according to a Google search. Spanish-language content made in Mexico is a huge category for Netflix, but the streamer’s Spanish-language shows come from pretty much everywhere. 

One of them -- “Love Of My Life,” an import from Colombia -- starts Wednesday. The show is about the daughter of a rich landowner who falls in love with a charismatic laborer. 

The worldwide search for content likely stems from Netflix’s evident strategy of trying to be all things to all people and cultures. Current estimates place Netflix’s global subscriber count at 277.65 million.

While some of the streamer’s foreign-language shows and movies remain unavailable on Netflix in the U.S., many of them are available both in the U.S. and elsewhere.

In this way, Netflix has emerged as a streamer without borders. Not only do Netflix shows play well in their countries and regions of origin, but they also gain traction elsewhere. 

In the U.S., the K-Dramas may be the best example of this phenomenon.

Indeed, categorizing Netflix’s TV shows from overseas as “imported from” may be a misapplication of the term. Netflix is available worldwide, and its content is spread across the globe.

With no borders and no language barriers, Netflix is a global economy all its own.