Does Netflix have too many foreign shows for U.S. viewers?

As Netflix subscriber growth slows in the U.S. and Canada – its two most mature markets – the streaming video service is devoting more attention to gaining subscribers overseas. This has led to a surge in foreign-language content being presented to English-speaking subscribers in North America.
Some analysts are starting to wonder if this surge of non-English language content could be a turnoff for Netflix customers in the U.S. Subscribers can watch these shows with subtitles or dubbed into English.
While some international shows such as “Squid Game” from South Korea break through to find a global audience, there are many other foreign-language shows crowding subscribers’ menu screens.
While I’m not against watching foreign programming, often I just want to watch U.S. movies and TV shows. I detest dubbing and sometimes I’m not in the mood to read subtitles.
At some point, U.S. Netflix subscribers might get fed up with seeing too much foreign content presented to them. They might quit the service to find more U.S.-produced content with familiar stars.
However, other services like HBO Max and Apple TV+ are adding foreign-language content as well. So, U.S. subscribers might just have to get used to seeing a diversity of languages on their video services.

Good foreign movies on Netflix:

Below Zero (Spain)
Black Crab (Sweden)
Blood Red Sky (Germany)
Cadaver (Norway)
Just Another Christmas (Brazil)
Lost Bullet (France)
Oxygen (France)
The Platform (Spain)
The Swarm (France)

Good foreign TV series on Netflix:

Alice in Borderland (Japan)
Borderliner (Norway)
Case (Iceland)
Dark (Germany)
Deadwind (Finland)
Into the Night (Belgium)
Katla (Iceland)
My Name (South Korea)
Quicksand (Sweden)
Ragnarok (Norway)
Squid Game (South Korea)
Sweet Home (South Korea)
The Chestnut Man (Denmark)
The Rain (Denmark)
The Valhalla Murders (Iceland)
To the Lake (Russia)
Tribes of Europa (Germany)

‘DMZ’ kicks off new round of dystopian and post-apocalyptic TV series

“DMZ” on HBO Max is the first new television show of 2022 to be set in a dystopian or post-apocalyptic world. The four-episode miniseries premiered on March 17.
Based on a DC graphic novel, “DMZ” takes place in the demilitarized zone of Manhattan Island during a second American civil war. It stars Rosario Dawson and Benjamin Bratt.
Next up in the post-apocalyptic genre is “Tales of the Walking Dead,” premiering in mid-2022 on AMC. The anthology series is the fourth television series in “The Walking Dead” zombie apocalypse franchise.
The six-episode run of “Tales of the Walking Dead” will feature actors Anthony Edwards, Terry Crews, Parker Posey, and Olivia Munn in standalone stories.
Next year will see the fifth series in the franchise, “Isle of the Dead.” It will star Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan as their characters Negan and Maggie.
A sixth series also is due to premiere next year. It’s an untitled spin-off series starring Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride as their characters Daryl and Carol.
In the meantime, there will be other dystopian and post-apocalyptic television series.
Netflix has set a premiere date of July 14 for “Resident Evil,” based on the long-running video game series. The eight-episode series takes place 14 years after a deadly virus caused a global apocalypse that overran the world with blood-thirsty creatures. It will star Lance Reddick and Ella Balinska.
HBO is making a TV series based on the acclaimed video game franchise “The Last of Us.” The series, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, is expected to debut in 2023. The story takes place in a world destroyed by an outbreak of a mutant Cordyceps fungus. The fungus turns human hosts into aggressive creatures known as the Infected.
Amazon Prime is working on a TV series based on the “Fallout” video game series. Walton Goggins has been cast in a lead role. The “Fallout” series is set in an alternate future United States after a nuclear apocalypse.
Apple TV+ is developing a dystopian sci-fi drama called “Wool.” The show will star Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Robbins and David Oyelowo. It is based on the “Silo” trilogy of novels by Hugh Howey.
“Wool” takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth where the air is poisonous. What’s left of humanity lives in The Silo, a subterranean city 144 stories below the surface.
Netflix is planning a spin-off series of “Into the Night,” which completed its second season last fall. The series takes place after radiation from the Sun kills all life on the surface of the Earth. Survivors must live underground during the day.
The spin-off is called “Into the Deep” and is set on a submarine.

Related articles:

Comprehensive list of live-action post-apocalyptic TV series

Netflix is keeping post-apocalyptic themed TV going (March 13, 2022)

The post-apocalypse is thriving on television (July 11, 2021)

Post-apocalyptic TV series entertain in troubled times (Sept. 14, 2020)

Netflix is keeping post-apocalyptic themed TV going

Since Netflix began producing original content, it has aired 11 post-apocalyptic themed television series. That’s considerably more than other TV channels and streaming services.
Those Netflix shows and miniseries have included “The Rain,” “3%,” “Black Summer,” “Daybreak,” “Into the Night,” “Reality Z,” “To the Lake,” “Sweet Home,” “Tribes of Europa,” “Sweet Tooth” and “The Silent Sea.” Only three of those are in English.
Netflix likely makes post-apocalyptic shows because they play well in international markets.
However, Netflix often stays mum on whether its shows will continue or are canceled. So, it’s hard to know how many of those series are still in production for new episodes. I personally hope to see new episodes of “Black Summer,” “Into the Night,” “To the Lake” and “Tribes of Europa.”
By my count, there are 13 post-apocalyptic themed TV shows still producing new episodes across all broadcast, cable and streaming channels.
And new shows in the genre are on the way such as “Tales of the Walking Dead” this summer on AMC. Coming later are “The Last of Us” on HBO, “Fallout” on Amazon Prime and “Isle of the Dead” on AMC.

See also: “Comprehensive list of live-action post-apocalyptic TV series.”

Photo: Season two poster for Netflix zombie-apocalypse series “Black Summer.”

Global destruction in movies continues with ‘Black Crab’ on Netflix

Filmmakers never tire of depicting “the end of the world” and what comes after it.
Recent movies have shown the Earth destroyed by climate change, solar flares, aliens, robot rebellions and even the Moon. Those flicks include “The Colony,” “Finch,” “A Quiet Place Part 2,” “Mother/Android” and “Moonfall.”
And one such movie – comet apocalypse flick “Don’t Look Up” – has even been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
More death and destruction on a global scale is on the way.
Up next is “Black Crab” on Netflix on March 18. The Swedish action thriller is set in a post-apocalyptic world torn apart by war. The movie stars Noomi Rapace.
Other post-apocalyptic movies this year include Austrian film “Rubikon,” where the Earth is covered in a toxic fog.
Still to come in the next year or so are sequels and spin-offs from the franchises “Mad Max,” “A Quiet Place,” “Bird Box” and “Wyrmwood.”

See also: “The complete post-apocalyptic movie list.”

Photo: Movie poster from “Black Crab” (Netflix)

All-divas Rock Hall induction in 2022? Would be nice but not likely

With each passing year, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gets more ridiculous.
This year’s 17 nominees illustrate some of the problems with the institution. The hall casts a wide net in terms of what music qualifies for induction. But it remains stingy about the number of artists it lets in each year.
It usually lets in five to seven artists a year, but thankfully it added 12 groups and individual artists in 2021. Hopefully it will add more than usual this year to reduce its sizable backlog of worthy artists.
For the past three years, I’ve been pushing for Pat Benatar to get inducted. She was nominated two years ago, snubbed last year, and is on the ballot again this year. But the nomination committee is pitting her against five other celebrated female artists: Kate Bush, Dolly Parton, Carly Simon, Dionne Warwick, and the Annie Lennox-fronted Eurythmics.
While I’d love to see an all-divas induction class and ceremony. I don’t see that happening. It’s more likely voters will split their votes among those artists.
This year’s Rock Hall ballot has a bunch of rockers, but it is diluted with artists from the country, adult contemporary, Afrobeat and rap genres.
Even country singer and American treasure Dolly Parton was surprised by her nomination. “I’ve never thought of myself as being rock and roll in any sense of the word,” she told Billboard.
I don’t have a problem specifically with broadening the Rock Hall tent to include all types of music that had a “profound impact on the sound of youth culture.” But the hall needs to induct more acts than the usual half dozen. The list of Rock Hall snubs is embarrassingly long.
In addition to the six female artists mentioned above, other nominees this year include Beck, Devo, Duran Duran, Eminem, Judas Priest, Fela Kuti, MC5, New York Dolls, Rage Against the Machine, Lionel Richie, and A Tribe Called Quest.
Inductees will be announced in May.

Related reading:

Rock Hall: How about a little bit of ladies first? (Populism; Feb. 11, 2022)

The Worst Snubs in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame History (So Far) (Vulture; Feb. 2, 2022)

Curious choices among Rock HOF inductees. Dolly Parton, Dionne Warwick? What about Styx and Foreigner? (Niagara Gazette; Feb. 10, 2022)

Pleasantly Disappointed: The 2022 Ballot (Rock Hall Monitors; Feb. 6, 2022)

Here Are the Country Artists in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Billboard; Feb. 2, 2022)

After two years of Covid, live events are finally happening again

With the omicron wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the rear-view mirror, people are ready to get out and attend live events again. That includes sporting events, concerts, conferences, and other activities.
In the U.S. at least, the public has been educated and has access to vaccines. Whether they choose to believe the experts and get vaxxed is up to them. The benefits and risks are well known at this point.
Government mandates and masking requirements have become politically unpopular after two years of the pandemic. People just want to get on with their lives unfettered by rules set by hypocritical politicians.
With serious illnesses and deaths from Covid limited to the unvaccinated, people are ready to treat the virus like they do the annual flu.
Live music venues near me, such as Capital One Arena, Jiffy Lube Live and the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, have a full slate of summer concerts planned.
Even music festival Coachella will be back after a two-year absence this April in Indio, California.
We’re likely to see an end to events being canceled or rescheduled because of the Covid pandemic.
The CES 2022 consumer electronics show went ahead with a live conference in Las Vegas in early January amid much hand-wringing about the omicron wave. But the show didn’t turn out to be the Covid superspreader event that many feared. (Attendees had to be vaxxed and masked.)
The Chicago Auto Show, the nation’s largest and longest-running auto show, opened Saturday Feb. 12 and will run through Monday Feb. 21.
Live conferences coming up include the SXSW conference, aka South by Southwest, in Austin, Texas, March 11-20. The last two in-person SXSW shows were canceled because of Covid.
Disney is holding its D23 Expo, called “the Ultimate Disney Fan Event,” in Anaheim, Calif., Sept. 9-11 after a two-year absence because of the pandemic.
Two awards shows delayed because of the omicron wave are coming up as well.
The Critics Choice Awards will be held March 13 after being pushed back from its original Jan. 9 date.
The Grammy Awards will be held on April 3 in Las Vegas after being postponed from the original Jan. 31 date in Los Angeles.

Photo: Covid pandemic word cloud by EpicTop10.com via Creative Commons.

Late predictions for 2022: Facebook metaverse flops; Roku buys Vizio; CBS Evening News canceled

Some prognosticators wait until the new year has already begun before releasing their predictions for the year ahead.
What follows are some predictions in the media and technology arenas that came out after I wrote my last roundup of 2022 predictions in December.

Facebook’s metaverse will be the biggest tech fail of 2022

Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at NYU Stern School of Business, predicted that Facebook’s push into the metaverse will be a colossal failure.
First, few people want to strap on a headset to hang out in a virtual world, he said. And second, Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook parent company Meta Platforms, has shown that he can’t be trusted with people’s personal data.

Metaverse mania will wane in 2022

Research firm ARtillery Intelligence predicted that exuberance and investment around the metaverse will recede in 2022.
“Though the metaverse is a legitimate principle with ample promise, its fully actualized arrival is years or even decades away,” the firm said. “Any metaverse outcomes in the next year can’t possibly live up to the hype.”

Bumpy year ahead for streaming services in U.S.

Bloomberg writer Lucas Shaw predicted slower growth and higher churn for subscription video-on-demand services like Netflix in the U.S. in 2022. He also said Roku will have to decide soon whether to become or buy a media company.

Roku will buy Vizio instead of a studio

LightShed Partners believes Roku will buy smart TV maker Vizio to expand its hardware offerings and user base in streaming video. Roku is looking for a bigger footprint of users for its advertising service. It is less likely that Roku will buy a content studio, LightShed said.

Europe cements its position as world’s most important tech regulator

Casey Newton, editor of Platformer, doesn’t see much significant U.S. regulatory action to rein in Big Tech in 2022. Instead, Europe and the U.K. will take the lead in antitrust action against tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Meta and others, he said.

ViacomCBS will cancel its CBS Evening News

TDG analyst Rob Silvershein said ViacomCBS will cancel its CBS Evening News in 2022. The company might announce a more aggressive streaming news initiative, he said. “If it does, however, it will be too little too late,” Silvershein said.

Peloton merges with Garmin

The Motley Fool made several predictions about mergers and acquisitions in 2022. One writer predicted Peloton will merge with Garmin. Another predicted Etsy and Pinterest will merge.

Photo: Mark Zuckerberg discusses his vision of the metaverse. (Meta)