Spherex Media

In this episode, Teresa and I discuss the challenge of localizing and cultural fitting content for international audiences. Entertainment companies must navigate complex regulatory, economic, and cultural environments in each new market, so it’s no surprise that cultural missteps are fairly common – from Netflix running afoul of the Singaporean government for hosting drug-related content to the infamous Cuties movie poster debacle here in the U.S. In response, Teresa shares how Spherex uses technology and human expertise to help media companies successfully localize and extend their content to foreign markets. Finally, we comment on Netflix’s recent foray into gaming, ARPU differences between AVOD and SVOD platforms, and future M&A targets as media consolidation continues.

As the streaming wars go global and the arms race for eyeballs heats up, more and more content needs to be audience-ready in real time. Spherex's Teresa Phillips and nScreenMedia's Colin Dixon discuss the importance of cultural content adaptation in addition to localization for streamers to get content to market faster, grow bigger audiences and drive more revenue.

“It was a collective creative effort to survive,” said Fabrice Sergent, referring to his company Bandsintown’s transformation amid the pandemic. “You have to go deep into the mission of the company, its values and its constituencies, to rebirth out of such a radical threat.”

There are 246 territories among 195 countries, and each has rules and regulations about what is acceptable in a movie or show. If you do not want your content to fall afoul of censors, you need to culturalize it!