The Popularity of Foreign Entertainment and Media in America

Boy Band BTS at the 2022 Grammys Red Carpet Cover Article: Photo: Jordan Strauss via NPR

With the rise in popularity of Kpop and Kdramas internationally, it is apparent that people in America have been consuming foreign entertainment more and more recently and immersing themselves into other cultures. According to Axios from Parrot Analytics, who measures the entertainment demands of consumers, “The U.S. demand share for non-U.S. content was higher each quarter in 2020 than in the previous two years.” This rise of foreign media consumption and demand has been happening since the pandemic and has risen ever since.

Bollywood Star Shah Rukh Khan in Pathaan Photo: Don Arnold via Vox

The social media and digital age makes it even easier for foreign media to be consumed by Americans. Thanks to streaming services like Netflix, someone can watch any foreign movie or TV show as long as they have internet access and are able to get subtitles if they don’t understand the language already. Additionally, apps like Tiktok have been able to push this media further into the mainstream and make it trendy. This consumption of media to put countries on the map can grow tourism, something that is important for the economy of many countries.  

Nollywood (Nigerian Hollywood) Set for the 2015 film “The CEO” Photo: Florian Plaucheur via PBS

This effect on tourism and in turn on countries’ economies is something that most people do not think about. Seeing a foreign country on screen or hearing music from a specific country makes American consumers want to visit another country more, to be fully immersed into the world of the media they consume. The biggest example of this is South Korean boy band BTS and their fans called Armys. BTS releases a lot of content for their fans including reality or variety shows, multiple albums a year, international concerts, member vlogs, lives, etc.

BTS’ Bang Bang Con Online Concert in 2020 Photo: Big Hit Music via Forbes

With their global popularity, they have been able to put South Korea on the map while also increasing the country’s tourism and economy. According to Business Insider, BTS has helped with over $3.6 billion to South Korean economy each year. Additionally, in 2017, one out of every thirteen tourists came to the country because of the group with about $1.1 billion worth of BTS merchandise and other goods being exported out of South Korea. The influence of BTS on foreign media and consumption cannot be understated and of course, this data is a more extreme example of the effects of tourism. However, it does show how important American foreign media consumption can be for other countries’ economies and tourism. 

The Award Winning South Korean Film Parasite by Director Bong Joon-ho Photo: NEON via The New Yorker 

Foreign media has been winning awards, foreign groups are performing in multiple major American cities and foreign media has been consistently breaking records in America. This growth of foreign media consumption is a good thing for America. Americans often have the reputation of being nationalist and promoting a form of American exceptionalism that is not as open to different cultures or countries. This ever-rising popularity in this type of media allows Americans to look outside of themselves and learn about other cultures that they wouldn’t have wanted to learned about otherwise. This allows for less ignorance and more open mindedness when it comes to other countries and what they have to offer, which should always be important.