Netflix’s investment in South African film and television productions continues to bear fruit, with a new report revealing the streaming giant’s latest hit, The Polygamist, racked up more than 23-million viewers in its first month since release. Over the years, Netflix has realised local productions from the countries in which it operates are a good way to keep and grow its base of paying customers. The success of shows such as Spain’s Money Heist and South Korea’s Squid Game has been used as proof that local shows gain global virality, helping to drive up watch time and subscriber numbers. The world’s largest paid streaming service, with about 325-million subscribers, spent R4bn on content in South Africa between 2021 and 2024, implying an investment rate of R1bn a year.Reporting earnings for the six months to end-June 2026, the group said 223.2-million hours had been consumed by author Sue Nyathi’s television adaptation of The Polygamist. “Since its global release on June 12, our South African supernovela has taken the world by storm, spending five consecutive weeks in the Netflix Global Top 10 for non-English shows and peaking at the number 2 spot with an incredible 23.1-million views through to July 12,” the company said. Netflix keeps a running chart of top shows for each region and country in which it has a presence. While viewers can see what is currently trending on the platform, insights into actual view counts, audience and consolidated lists are released periodically, typically with earnings reports. The video on demand service described The Polygamist as a “breakout series”, saying it had reached the Top 10 in 62 countries, including the US, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, France, Spain, Germany, and the UK. “The supernovela also hit the coveted number 1 spot in 21 countries, including Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Kenya, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Nigeria and South Africa.”Netflix has been devoting its deep pockets to its local productions, such as Blood & Water, Love Never Lies, Queen Sono, One Piece and How To Ruin Christmas. The strategy has paid off, with titles such as Blood & Water, Unseen and Fatal Seduction also breaking through Netflix’s Global Top 10 chart in previous years. One Piece continues to be its biggest production in Africa to date in terms of scale and budget, covering South African labour, infrastructure and suppliers. While the company is spending a large amount of money, R1bn on average each year in South Africa, this is a drop in the ocean for the US streaming giant, which has a $17bn (about R280bn) production budget for 2025.“Great stories can come from anywhere and find a global audience, with non-English titles again making up more than a third of all viewing,” said Netflix. “Powerhouse slates from Korea, Japan, Spain and India (which celebrated its biggest half yet) continue to lead the charge, alongside breakout local hits finding massive audiences in South Africa (driven by 180 and The Polygamist), Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Norway, Thailand, Italy, and Denmark.”This comes as MultiChoice, now a part of France’s Canal+, has earmarked a R21bn budget for local productions over the next three years. The DStv operator prides itself on having the largest local content library on the African continent. BBC Studios recently credited its slate of localised programming as a success factor driving its 50% audience growth in South Africa since 2020. Business Day