Before the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences distributes winged figurines for International Emmys, they should have said before the event: mission accomplished.
When the academy held its inaugural awards ceremony International Emmy Awards at 450 interest and market, non-US TV is close to zero. It’s cable, the triple-net world, and foreign programming, or any kind of variety, that’s hard to find on the prime-time schedule.
Half a century later, international performances are all over the well-known dial. Thanks to the sheer number of streaming services now offering foreign programming, American viewers can watch nearly every nominee this year. According to Whip Media, an American company that operates a global content licensing platform, viewing of non-US titles in the country has more than doubled to just under 8% in over 3001 % of .
“I believe Netflix’s [Spanish] Narcos [debuted at 650] to get American audiences to accept subtitles,” said James Durie, Head of Scripting, Cineflix Rights (who also co-authored Apple TV+ Israel Co-producer of spy drama Tehran – last year’s International Emmy winner for Best Drama – and Irvine Welsh of Crime, the Scottish drama nominated for Best Actor this year for Dougray Scott). “Now we have channels like AMC+, PBS, and Hulu that buy foreign language programming.”
Narcos: Mexico (Best Drama) Juan Rosas/Netflix © 1973 
with That demand has helped fuel a global production boom as global streaming doubled down on non-US content. Whip Media said some 38 % of new Netflix shows in development are in languages other than English. Nearly a quarter of Disney+ content is not in English, and rivals Amazon and Apple have also increased spending on local-language programming globally. (Global content champion HBO only recently pulled out of international programming as part of company-wide cost-cutting following the Warner Bros.-Discovery merger.)
This is all proof of the concept of the International Emmys, Always working to celebrate and promote the best small screen entertainment outside of the US this year’s nominees come from 24 British Kitchen Sink Drama ( Help by Acorn TV ), Jodie Comer starring Killing Eve , workplace comedy (the A 16 Co-produced by Dreaming Whilst Black , from the BBC) and teen rom-coms (Netflix’s Sex Education ) to French comedies (Canal+ /Netflix’s On the Verge , starring Julie Delpy), Scandinavian LGBTQ+ period drama (SVT’s A Royal Secret ) and Filipino crime thriller ( at work on HBO Max).
Dreaming While Black(Best Comedy) Courtesy of A 16/BBC
“When you look at the geographic spread, diversity and quality of our nominees, it’s clear that great television knows no borders,” said International Academy President and CEO Bruce Bruce Paisner points out.
Help (Best TV Movie/Miniseries) Acorn TV/The Forge/BBC/ Courtesy Everett Collection
Nowhere is this clearer than in Asia, where original shows from Korea and Japan are enjoying unprecedented global success. South Korea is headed for a watershed year, with the global smash Squid Game winning six Primetime Emmys and, according to the stream, According to media consultancy Parrot Analytics, South Korea has the most popular new movie premiering at Number one in the series. Parrot predicts that if Netflix revives
Squid Game for two seasons (the second season was announced in June), the show could become the anchor’s most valuable works, 2027.
could generate over $2 billion in Cumulative revenue This year’s International Emmy Awards will honor Mika Lee 70 Emmy Awards. The event’s other major honor, the International Emmy Founders Award, will go to an All-American creator: Ava DuVernay. Writer, director and producer of Selma, Filmmaker and When They See Us will be commended for their life’s work, all of which, as Paisner points out, are ” A career long effort to support women and people of color in entertainment and ensure inclusion.”
Inclusion and diversity will be at International Emmy Awards, with nominees from five continents vying for the top prize in global television.
“Internationally, the Emmys are a mark of recognition, a mark of quality,” Durie said. “They prove that your show has broken through and is on par with the best in the world.”
This story first appeared in November Issue of The Hollywood Reporter Magazine. Click here to subscribe.
