Analyzing Global Netflix Trends

Project Overview

Netflix, a global leader in streaming services, hosts an expansive library of movies and TV shows spanning many regions and genres. This case study, conducted as a personal project, explores patterns and trends in Netflix's content catalog, offering insights into distribution dynamics as well as opportunities for Netflix's regional and genre expansion.

*Note: This analysis is a personal work sample and is not affiliated with or commissioned by Netflix.

Key Questions Addressed:

  1. Which genres dominate Netflix's library, and how does this vary by region?

  2. How has the volume of content procured & produced evolved over time across regions?

  3. What is the distribution of TV shows versus movies in Netflix's library, and how does this vary by region?

My Approach

  • Data Overview: For this project I used a dataset containing information about Netflix content (movies & TV shows) including titles, genres, release years, and countries where the content was produced. This dataset was sourced from Kaggle.com and had over 8,500 records to be analyzed.

  • Tools Used: Excel for data cleaning, organization, and visualization.

  • Limitations: This dataset reflects content availability at a specific point in time, and the genre or region categorizations may not be exhaustive.

  • Process:

    1. Data Cleaning: Populated blank cells, eliminated duplicate entries, and removed columns unrelated to this project such as “Cast” (list of actors/actresses in a given title) and “Description” (brief summary of each title).

    2. Standardization: Created the “region” column by making a VLOOKUP table to match each title’s country to its respective global region. Additionally, utilized Excel’s Text to Column Wizard to separate genres into individual columns, designating the first genre listed as the "primary"; originally the data set listed all genres each title could be found under in one column.

    3. Table Formatting: Created pivot tables to summarize and categorize data effectively, enabling quick analysis of regional and genre-based trends. The tables were used to explore insights such as content distribution by region and trends over time.

    4. Visualization: Bar charts, stacked area charts, and stacked bar charts, were created to highlight key metrics and trends, emphasizing regional genre dominance, content growth patterns, and distribution of content types.

My Findings

Genre Representation Across Regions

Dominance of Drama and Comedy

Netflix's genre distribution exhibits notable regional trends and diversity. Drama emerges as the most prevalent genre across all regions (see Figure 1 below), underscoring its universal appeal. Comedy also maintains a strong presence globally, with the exception of Oceania, where its representation is comparatively limited. Documentaries are widely available except in Asia and Africa, each representing less than 5% of global titles in this genre, highlighting potential areas for growth.

International TV Shows and Action & Adventure

International TV shows showcase significant representation across most regions but are relatively absent in North America. Action & Adventure, while slightly underrepresented in Netflix’s overall library, maintains consistency across most regions except Europe, the Middle East, and South America.

Regional Genre Diversity

North America distinguishes itself with the most amount of genre diversity, particularly in Kids' TV and Children's & Family Movies which make up about 67% and 72% of global titles in their respective genres. Conversely, Africa and the Middle East face limited representation in these genres; each make up 0% of global titles in Kids TV and less than 1% in Children’s & Family Movies, emphasizing an opportunity for enhanced regional.

Stacked bar chart displaying distribution of genres in the Netflix library by region

Figure 1: Regional genre popularity, highlighting top genres by region.

Content Growth Trends Over Time

Rapid Growth in the 2010s

The rapid expansion of Netflix's content library is particularly evident during the 2010s, with the majority of global releases concentrated between 2011 and 2018 (see Figure 2 below). This period coincides with Netflix's transition from a DVD rental service to a dominant global streaming platform. The surge in content production and acquisition reflects the company’s aggressive strategy to expand its catalog, attract a broader audience, and establish market dominance.

Regional Volume Disparities

Regional disparities in content contributions are also evident. North America accounts for over 40% of Netflix’s global content in peak years, reflecting its historical focus on established entertainment markets. In contrast, regions like Africa, Oceania, and the Middle East collectively contribute less than 10% of the library, highlighting significant opportunities for Netflix to diversify its offerings and cater to underserved audiences.

Varying Growth Rates

Growth trends also vary by region. Asia demonstrates steady growth, with its contributions increasing from around 5% in 2010 to over 15% by 2018. Conversely, Africa and Oceania remain below 5% throughout this period, underscoring untapped potential and the need for Netflix to expand its presence in these underserved areas.

Stacked line graph showing the year in which each Netflix title was released

Figure 2: Regional growth trends over time, showcasing content evolution by release year.

Distribution of TV Shows vs. Movies

Dominance of Movies

Movies constitute the majority of Netflix's global library, representing over 70% of total titles. This highlights the platform’s longstanding emphasis on films as a core offering to cater to a diverse global audience. While TV shows have gained prominence in recent years, movies remain a foundational element of Netflix’s content strategy, appealing to viewers seeking standalone stories or cinematic experiences.

Regional Preferences for TV Shows

TV shows demonstrate a stronger presence in regions like North America and Europe, where they account for nearly 40% of the content. This reflects audience preferences in these regions for episodic storytelling and binge-worthy series. In contrast, Africa showcases a notably lower percentage of TV shows, with such titles comprising just over 10% of the region’s content (see Figure 3 below). This highlights an opportunity for Netflix to broaden its offerings and better cater to the diverse entertainment preferences within this market.

Stack bar chart showing the distribution of Netflix TV & Movies in each region

Figure 3: Distribution of TV shows vs. movies across regions.

Conclusion

Netflix's content catalog reflects its global ambitions and regional strategies, balancing popular genres like Drama and Comedy with emerging opportunities in underrepresented categories such as Kids' TV, Children’s & Family Movies, Documentaries, and more. North America continues to dominate in content diversity and volume, while Asia and Europe exhibit promising growth trends. However, there remains more opportunities for increased investment in under-severed regions like Africa, the Middle East, and Oceania.

Recommendations

  • Enhance Global Genre Diveristy: Address gaps in regional genre splits to capitalize on niche niche markets, such as Comedies in Oceania, International TV in North America, Children’s & Family Movies in the Middle East & Africa, etc.

  • Expand Regional Offerings: Focus on increasing content volume in regions like Africa, Oceania, and the Middle East by expanding on genre categories that are showing positive trajectories like Action & Adventure and Documentaries.

  • Invest in Untapped Content Types: Strengthen Netflix's presence in regions with skewed content distributions. Africa’s library for example could benefit from targeted expansion in TV programming. Introducing Kids' TV offerings in this region may also unlock significant global viewership potential.

Lessons Learned

This personal project taught me valuable insights about data analysis, visualization, and storytelling—key skills I aim to refine. By working on this project exclusively in Excel, I strengthened my ability to understand and work with raw datasets, create meaningful visualizations, and extract actionable insights from large volumes of information. I also gained a deeper understanding of how data-driven storytelling can illuminate opportunities for business growth.

Through this process, I learned the importance of selecting the right visualizations to highlight trends effectively, as well as the challenges of working with complex datasets that require careful standardization and interpretation. This project reinforced my interest in data-driven decision-making and has motivated me to further expand my knowledge in languages like SQL & Python, and learn more advanced data visualization tools to enhance my analytical skillset.