SVOD Global Expansion in Cross-National Comparative Perspective: Netflix in Israel and Spain. (December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wayne, Michael L.; Castro, Deborah
• Is Part Of: Television & new media. Volume 22:Number 8(2021)
• Page Start: 896
• Page End: 913
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Subjects: Netflix -- cross-national comparative research -- television industry -- global television -- SVOD -- pay-television; Télévision -- Aspect social -- Périodiques; Télévision -- Aspect économique -- Périodiques; Médias -- Publics -- Périodiques; Civilisation -- Histoire -- Périodiques; Television broadcasting -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Digital media -- Periodicals; 302.234505
• DOI: 10.1177/1527476420926496
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1527-4764

Abstract

This article compares the processes by which Netflix entered national pay-television markets in Israel and Spain. In both contexts, Netflix first establishes itself through collaborations with over-the-top (OTT) television operators and then expands through collaborations with legacy providers. By using the perspective of cross-national comparative research, this analysis complicates the scholarly understandings of subscription video on-demand (SVOD) global expansion by drawing attention to the significance of national multichannel providers. Given the differences between the Spanish and Israeli pay-TV markets, Netflix's similar pattern of engagement in each case highlights the value of understanding SVOD global expansion as a coherent industrial process that produces distinct, context-dependent outcomes. Ultimately, the histories of Netflix in Israel and Spain reveal that internationalization operates at a meso-level where collaborations with pay-television providers facilitate access to national audiences.