[sethd]

> and leveraged cross-country content like no old-world provider ever has.

Mixing in a lot of foreign language content to make their library seem larger is a sad joke and one of the main reasons I no longer subscribe to Netflix.

Edit for clarity: I’m fine with foreign language content in general, as long as it’s categorized as such. The problem is how Netflix mixes it in with everything else in a deceptive manor.

I can remember when Blockbuster and video rental stores would put all this in a foreign language section, which was then further broken down by genre.

[zztop44]

I guess I’m not sure how it’s deceptive? Yes, content isn’t segregated at the top level into foreign and domestic, but the original language is clearly shown and there are many country or language-specific categories too.

Maybe in Blockbuster in the US in the 1990s putting all “foreign” stuff over in its own corner made sense. But most countries didn’t do that. And content consumption has become a lot more globalized in the past decade.

For many people, easily accessing (and being recommended) interesting foreign content is one of Netflix’s selling points, I’d say.

[sethd]

It’s deceptive in the tactics they use to hide the fact it’s dubbed until you actually start watching it. (See sibling comment further down)

[HDThoreaun]

Netflix’s foreign content is quite good. Especially the Korean stuff is pretty high quality and way cheaper to produce, seems like a good idea to me.

[alephnerd]

> the Korean stuff is pretty high quality

It's part of their Asia pivot. Netflix invests in fairly high quality Asian TV to try and compete for market share within Asia.

Amazon Prime is doing a similar pivot (fairly successfully I might add) in India.

Disney has dropped out of the Asian market because they just couldn't compete Asian competitors or Amazon+Netflix.

[blackoil]

Disney is big in India through Hotstar and Star India which they acquired along with Fox.

Edit: Seems, I wasn't up to date, they are planning to exit India also. Thanks, alephnerd

[alephnerd]

Disney is selling Hotstar and Star India to Reliance.

It's part of their larger pivot away from Asia and towards building a competitive American streaming presence

https://inc42.com/buzz/reliance-to-acquire-walt-disney-india...

https://www.digitaltveurope.com/2023/06/15/disney-shuts-down...

[sethd]

I’m fine with foreign language content in general, as long as it’s categorized as such. The problem is how Netflix mixes it in with everything else in a deceptive manor.

[surgical_fire]

What is foreign language for such a global service?

If I am in Spain, should shows in English be bundled in a "Foreign Language" along with Korean dramas, Japanese animation, and a couple of odd series in Dutch? How is this helpful?

Not saying that language categorization is a bad thing. Being able to filter shows that are available in a specific audio language, or with a specific language available for subtitles, would be a bad thing. But I seriously question the helpfulness of "English" and "Other"

[sethd]

I think the right approach would be to label content that is not in the source language you have set as your device locale.

It’s not about filtering out the content, it’s about making it easy to tell whether or not it’s going to start playing with dubbed audio so the viewer can make a better choice.

[jltsiren]

Locales are often compromises that don't reflect user preferences particularly well. People speak multiple languages, and they may have different preferences for content / UI languages, date/time formats etc. And the preferences may be situational, such as native X > native English > English translation/localization > X translation/localization.

Just tag the content with the relevant languages and let the user create filters based on them. And assume that the user understands that languages don't form disjoint categories, because the content itself could be multilingual.

Besides, original audio with subtitles is usually superior to dubbed audio.

[homarp]

Hollywood is not in the source language for most of the world. Netflix brand new English content is also not in the source language for most of the world.

[edgyquant]

Netflix started as English only and already has regional content. It would make since for foreign to be considered “not the dominant language in this region/nstion”

[matthewdgreen]

The content quality is excellent, but the English-language voice acting is horrible.

[alephnerd]

Because it's an afterthought.

Netflix added KDramas in order to help it pivot into the Asian market. Most viewers will be watching the shows via subtitles.

[matthewdgreen]

The shows are heavily promoted here in the US, and they default to the English soundtrack.

[alephnerd]

I'm in the US. And KDramas don't show up prominently in my recommendations (I prefer watching on KissAsian - force of habit and the subs are better).

The algo is heavily targeted to your own assumed tastes. The one time I did watch one, it was in Korean with English subs.

Maybe you watched a western marketed KDrama like Squid Games? Try watching Beyond Evil, Itaewon Class, Reply 1988, or Mr Queen and see if it reverts to English. I'm kinda curious now

[sethd]

On top of that, the English subtitles don’t match up with the English voiceovers.

[nothercastle]

That’s normal. You have to match appropriate sentence length in dubs otherwise when another person is taking the wrong person will still be talking in the dubbed language. Subtitles allow for better translation as that limitation isn’t there

[cycrutchfield]

Use subtitles?

[tomashubelbauer]

Cross-country content doesn't have to mean foreign language content, right? Squid Game and Money Heist are two examples of "cross-country" content that served Netflix extremely well IMO. Produced for a specific non-anglo-centric region, they slapped shitty English dubs on those and suddenly, world-wide hits.

[sethd]

That’s another thing I don’t like about Netflix: English dubs by default. It’s an example of the deceptive tactics I’m referring to in how they present foreign language content.

The default audio should be in the source language, with subtitles in your language.

[whstl]

Is it really the default? My "default language" isn't english but don't remember seeing a dubbed show.

[sethd]

Unfortunately it is. If you want to listen to the original source audio with subtitles, you have to change these settings each time. It’s super annoying. (Unless something changed recently)

[paxys]

No you don't. I set one show to play with original audio years ago and since then all of them have followed that setting.

[sethd]

It never worked this way for me, but I always use their Apple TV app.

[edgyquant]

I’m totally with you. I still use almost exclusively Netflix but have to spend a lot more time finding content as it even seems they go out of their way to hide the fact it’s a dub in the trailers. I do a lot of backing out once I realize it’s dubbed.

[sethd]

Thank you, this is exactly what I was referring to. I forgot about the deceptive trailers that attempt to hide the fact it’s dubbed. There’s definitely a deliberate attempt to trick viewers here.

I think the only easy way to tell without watching is by looking at the names of the actors. If they are look like they are from a particular language/region, then it’s usually a sign it’s dubbed.

I was starting to wonder if I was alone with this opinion or if there is just a some Netflix employees here trying to gaslight me. :)

[surgical_fire]

The world is so much larger than the US, you wouldn't believe.

[sethd]

Huh? What does that have to do with anything I stated?

The same would be true if I was watching Netflix in France with my device locale set to fr-FR. I’d just consider English content to be foreign language content instead.

[edgyquant]

How exactly is that relevant to a streaming service located in, and targeted at, the US?

[evandrofisico]

It is not targeted at the US.

[graphe]

Why is it a problem for you? Don't like reading subs when doing stuff in the background? It's my main reason I don't like foreign, I'm either reading or watching.

[edgyquant]

I don’t like reading subtitles period (totally distracts from actually watching the movie for me) and I don’t like dubs either as the words not lining up annoys me.

[skydhash]

With the way the sound is mixed, I always have subtitle shown. But I’m a fast reader.

[sethd]

Edited post to make my reason more clear