Date:

September 5, 2023

How Cross-Platform Release Windows Impact Localization & Local Age Ratings

In early 2020, the COVID pandemic forced studios to rethink how and when to release major motion pictures. The pandemic cut available theaters and release times by more than half, and the industry and revenues worldwide suffered significantly. With the public no longer able to watch films in person, a new strategy for releasing theatrical films was necessary, and the "Cross-Platform Release" strategy was born.

The concept is straightforward: release premium first-run titles in as many theaters as possible (if at all), then soon after on Transactional Video-on-Demand (TVOD), where consumers could buy or rent it. If a title was underperforming in certain markets, it could be released on Premium Video-on-Demand (PVOD) to help bolster awareness and revenue. Then, based on consumer response, release it on SVOD. Previously, a first-run film could be released domestically in over 4,300 theaters and run for months before it went to TVOD or SVOD.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

A perfect example of this strategy is the Disney/Pixar animated film " Onward ." The film opened the weekend of 6 March 2020, in 4,310 theaters to $39.1M in revenue. Thirteen days later, it was still in 4,310 theaters, but COVID reduced daily audiences, and revenues fell to $33,296. With a budget of $175M, making $61.5M worldwide at a time when theaters were closing wasn't going to cut it. Pulled from theaters on 19 March 2020, the film was released on TVOD the next day. It was released to SVOD two weeks later. Using a combination of TVOD and SVOD, "Onward" went on to gross $142M worldwide when projections were it should have done much more.

Fast forward to today when people are back in theaters (" Barbie ," anyone?), and theatrical releases compete with big-budget, first-run streaming titles. Among the lessons learned from the pandemic were studios recognized some consumers prefer watching movies at home to physically going to theaters. Consumers, especially families, were willing to wait weeks to avoid crowds and risk their health.

The cross-platform release strategy allowed studios to use traditional distribution to release titles, meet consumers where they were, and extend the revenue life of films before they went to SVOD. The current movie " Meg 2: The Trench ," which, despite grossing $353M worldwide since its 4 August release, grossed just $74M in the U.S., prompting Warner Brothers to release it to TVOD 20 days later. The film was the "Top 10" TVOD title for the week ending 27 August.

It's the Same, Only Different

There has always been a form of the "cross-platform release strategy," but not like today. In the "old days" of the 1980s through the late 2010s, a movie was released in the theater and then went to videotape or, later, DVD where it could be bought or rented. Streaming made wide distribution possible, and COVID accelerated consumer dependence on streaming because they had nowhere else to go for entertainment. Consumer behavior changed permanently as a result. While economics remains the critical factor, content creators and distributors that depend on international distribution to extend the financial life of their work make ensuring it is ready for global audiences imperative.

Streaming and Regulation Complicates Localization and Distribution

There is a lot to consider when preparing titles for cross-platform release. Not only is language translation a critical component of the process, but costs related to subtitling and audio dubbing, regulatory compliance and any required edits, multi-lingual marketing, and distribution can vary significantly across platforms.

For example, a title released theatrically likely has different age rating criteria than one heading for linear or streaming distribution in the same country. Those differences can impact age ratings, watershed, and even the types of platforms or channels where it can be released. The refusal to edit or change a film's offensive language or action to earn a lower TV age rating could force it into late evening airtime, significantly reducing audience size and advertising revenue.

Navigating these obstacles requires expertise not typically available to everyone who owns or licenses content for non-native language markets. Here are some suggestions for making the process go more smoothly.

First Things First

The first step in solving a problem is understanding it. Last year, we discussed the five key steps to preparing a global release title. In that post, we share the hows and whys for thinking about international releases early in the production process, learning as much as possible about your audience, and not being afraid to ask for help. These tips are as relevant today as they were a year ago.

Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

The time required to prepare an original film or TV series for international release is substantial. While localization is the most time-consuming part of the process and can take months, other overlooked components exist. There can be fundamental differences between literal script translation and addressing cultural issues that will impact ratings. For example, how drugs are used or represented matters to audiences, and regulators in dozens of countries worldwide can be stringent in ensuring the audience doesn't see something they shouldn't. Failure to know those differences and plan accordingly is sure to impact its age rating, its audience, and your revenue.

Think Locally, Plan Regionally

Spherex is helping creators streamline the global distribution process by identifying cultural events within titles that are problematic for audiences and regulators. One of the things we've found is that while localization is "local," there are regions where similar sensibilities exist. If you consider where films are being censored or banned for specific types of content, you'll note many countries have similar cultures, religions, forms of government, and regulations. Using the Spherex AI platform, you can identify similar markets; and instead of creating separate versions for individual countries, you may be able to prepare a single release and distribute it regionally. This strategy expands your content's markets and further monetizes it, reducing post-production localization and distribution expenses.

Cross-platform releases are here to stay. It results from the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the broader adoption of streaming as an entertainment source and a significant change in consumer behavior. After a title has run its theatrical course, there are plenty of opportunities to reach even larger audiences using this strategy. Spherex is the only AI platform with years of experience providing the intelligence and guidance creators and studios need to ensure their content reaches the largest audience with the lowest brand risk. The secret is knowing and planning. Click here to learn more about how Spherex can help your titles succeed.

How is the Economy Impacting Content Creation?

What should content creators make of platform subscribers and revenue numbers?

If you listen to media pundits, analysts don't expect Q2 of 2022 to bode well for linear or streaming platforms. Several said the industry was " slowing down " due to the state of the global economy. Market contractions are likely to lower ad revenue and impact subscriber totals. To some degree, the companies that have reported so far (more are coming this week) indicate the experts may have a point, but will it impact content development or market expansion?

Among earnings announcements so far:

Netflix posted a loss of 970K subscribers
Peacock netted no new paid subscribers in the quarter
Apple service subscriber growth slowed compared to previous quarters

Other prominent players in the streaming space are expected to report subscriber losses, slower subscriber growth rates, and revenues or earnings below projections. Fortunately, the state of the industry isn't as bad as some like to paint it. In fact, none of the companies reporting earnings so far have announced a reduction in their content spending this year despite these challenging economic times.

Netflix

Netflix CFO Spence Neumann said in their Q2 earnings call , "‚Ä¶if you zoom out a bit and look at past economic cycles, at least in the US, most forms of entertainment have been fairly resilient to downturns." People tend to keep streaming subscriptions as they optimize their entertainment spending. Neumann cited that operating income and Earnings Per Share (EPS) were higher than expected, and the company saw a 7.7% growth in screen time during the quarter. This growth included countries where the company increased prices. Bottom line: Netflix will not change its content strategy or curb spending.

Comcast

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said during their Q2 earnings call that despite flat subscriber growth in the NBCU Media group, their investment in content was paying off. He cited upfronts generating "more than $7 billion in commitments, including $1 billion at Peacock" for the 2022/2023 season. Roberts touted the success of theatrical releases including "Jurassic World," "Minions: The Rise of Gru," and "Black Phone," emphasizing that "great content attracts massive audiences." Comcast indicated no intent to cut back on content development.

Apple

Apple's commitment to content continues, with CEO Tim Cook saying during their earnings call that the company grew to over 860M paid members of Apple TV+, Apple Music, and Apple Arcade platforms in the quarter, generating $19.6B in revenue. Cook highlighted that in 2.5 years, Apple TV+ has "earned 250 wins and 1,100 award nominations," including 52 Emmy nominations across 13 titles.

What this means for content creators is that, given the current global economy, there is no planned change in the amount of money invested in new content. Every major company that has reported quarterly earnings remains committed to its announced investment levels in new content development for 2022. That doesn't mean they won't adjust how or what they buy in the future. It means their focus remains on creating engaging content consumers want to watch. This is good news for companies that cultivate and localize content. It is a testament to their effectiveness in producing titles welcomed in over 200+ countries and territories worldwide.

Related Insights

Spherex CEO Teresa Phillips Talks Practical AI for Global Content Localization at EnTech Fest

SpherexAI

M&E

Localization

At this year’s DEG EnTech Fest, Spherex CEO and Co-Founder Teresa Phillips joined a panel to explore one of the most practical and impactful uses of AI in entertainment today: localization.

During the session titled “Practical AI For Speed and Savings in Localization,” Phillips shared how Spherex is leveraging AI to deliver “deep video understanding” that accelerates compliance and rating decisions in over 200 markets. As she explained, understanding the context—cultural, visual, and narrative—is crucial in determining whether a piece of content is suitable for audiences worldwide.

“AI can now detect not just what happens in a scene, but how it might be interpreted in different cultural and regulatory environments,” said Phillips. For example, in Scandinavian countries, if a trusted figure, such as a clergy member, commits an unethical act onscreen, it can dramatically impact a film’s age rating. SpherexAI is trained to identify these nuanced moments, flagging them for human review when needed.

Phillips also highlighted the role of AI in augmenting human decision-making, noting that “AI agents can be trained to ask humans the right questions—like whether the drinking in a scene is casual or excessive—ensuring more consistent, scalable evaluations.”

The conversation also acknowledged the broader industry shift that AI is bringing to localization workflows—from quality control (QC) to artwork generation, compliance, and project management. With automation poised to displace some entry-level roles, Phillips raised a key question for the future: “If junior roles are the first to be automated, how do we bring new talent into the industry? We have a responsibility in our organizations to create opportunities for the next generation.”

Joining Phillips on the panel were Silviu Epure (Blu Digital Group), Chris Carey (Iyuno), Kelly Summers (The Sherlock Company), and Duncan Wain (Zoo Digital), offering a 360° view on how AI is transforming the way stories cross borders.

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Why Content Differentiation Matters More Than Ever

Metadata

Regulation

Video Compliance

In today’s fragmented global media landscape, a one-size-fits-all approach no longer works. Media companies face increasing pressure to tailor their content strategies to suit diverse regulatory standards, cultural norms, and viewer expectations.To thrive, they must adopt a new mindset—content differentiation—as both a business imperative and a competitive advantage.

What Is Content Differentiation?

Content differentiation is the strategic process of customizing how media is packaged, presented, and monetized based on the context in which it is distributed. Unlike basic content localization, which focuses mainly on language and format adjustments, content differentiation goes deeper. It aligns content with the regulatory, cultural, and commercial realities of each market, platform, and audience.

The goal is to ensure that content resonates locally while maintaining global scale. Differentiation helps media companies maximize reach, reduce regulatory risk, and improve monetization—all without compromising creative intent.

Why It’s Needed Now

Regulatory Complexity: Governments are tightening rules around age ratings, depictions of violence, sexuality, religion, and topics of national interest. These laws vary widely across regions, creating a compliance minefield for global distributors.
Cultural Expectations: What works in one market can trigger backlash in another. Cultural nuances—around gender roles, family dynamics, or social taboos—shape how content is perceived and whether it’s embraced or rejected. In many cases, outdated depictions of identity, relationships, or social dynamics can resurface as flashpoints when content is distributed years later in new markets.
The Importance of Metadata: Streaming platforms now host massive libraries with considerable overlap in titles across services. In this environment, having accurate, detailed metadata—including production details, talent, , and advanced descriptors—is critical for making content discoverable, marketable, and ultimately profitable. Without it, even high-quality content risks being overlooked.

Meeting the Challenge with SpherexAI

Solving these challenges requires more than manual review or basic tagging—it demands a scalable, intelligent system that understands both the content itself and its contextual significance. That’s where SpherexAI comes in.

SpherexAI is a high-fidelity metadata platform built to help media and entertainment companies implement content differentiation at scale. Using multimodal AI, it analyzes every frame of video—evaluating visuals, audio, dialogue, and on-screen text—to generate rich, actionable metadata that informs compliance decisions, discovery, and monetization.

SpherexAI extends beyond basic content tagging. It analyzes material against global regulatory requirements, identifies cultural nuances and sensitivities, and detects potential risks prior to distribution. Additionally, it enhances content visibility in crowded platform environments by enriching metadata with precise descriptors, scene-level details, emotional tone analysis, and contextual insights—elements that improve content discovery and ad targeting.

Learn More

If you're ready to differentiate your content for every audience, platform, and region, SpherexAI can help. Contact us to schedule a demo or speak with our team about how metadata-driven intelligence can power your global strategy.

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NAB 2025 – Recognizing a Changed Industry

Spherex

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Another National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference is in the books, and if anything has changed in the media and entertainment industry, the conference and attendees were there to discuss it. From content evolution to changes in audience preferences to AI being everywhere, to trade uncertainty, it was a topic of conversation at NAB 2025. Official categories included: Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Virtualization, Creator Economy, Sports, and Streaming. If a general conclusion could be drawn, it’s that the legacy media business no longer cuts in today’s market, and to survive these new realities, businesses must rethink how they fit in.

Everything Is Changing

One of the biggest takeaways from NAB is the impact the creator economy is having on the industry. Dozens of panels focused on how individuals and small-team productions have upended traditional business models and economics, attracting large audiences from traditional producers while also siphoning away ad revenues and production contracts. Recognizing this trend, hundreds of exhibitors demonstrated how their products or services support all types of creators while also providing benefits to traditional media companies. The NAB also introduced two new initiatives to support this growing sector: the Creator Council and the Creator Lab.

In a keynote session, media cartographer Evan Shapiro highlighted the extent of the shift, pointing out that by 2027, the creator economy is expected to grow to half a trillion dollars, nearly doubling its value from last year ($250 million). Shapiro, recognizing the difference between the creator economy and influencers, cites their effectiveness in attracting and engaging large audiences without having to deal with “gatekeeper-led content.” His final point was that this new reality presents the M&E industry with two options: embrace it or get left behind.

Market and Regulatory Uncertainty

The current uncertainty in global trade markets and the impact of tariffs on product purchases has cast a significant chill on many exhibitors at NAB. This was especially true for those companies whose products were manufactured or included parts from impacted countries or markets (services are not yet subject to tariffs). Many companies encouraged customers to expedite purchases to take advantage of existing inventories and avoid significant cost increases as tariffs are implemented. Attendees and speakers also expressed concerns about how regulatory changes from the FCC and regulators in other countries might impact children's television programming, the news distortion policy, technical rules (e.g., ATSC 3.0), and TV carriage rules (e.g., non-duplication, and syndicated exclusivity).

Monetization Evolves as Markets Evolve

The continued growth of OTT/FAST and the rapidly expanding creator economy means competition for eyeballs and ads will only become more intense. Evidence of this was on clear display during NAB 2025:

Traditional Broadcast Disruption: The rise of streaming services and changing viewer habits are challenging traditional broadcast models, necessitating a reimagining of revenue strategies.
Fragmented Audiences: The audience is increasingly fragmented across linear streaming, on-demand platforms, and traditional broadcast, making it more difficult for advertisers to reach consumers effectively.
Hybrid Models: Streaming services are increasingly adopting hybrid monetization models, such as AVOD or FAST, to supplement their subscription revenues.

A key component of all of these strategies is high-fidelity metadata. Without it, content marketing, search, and discovery, as well as contextual advertising, are much more difficult to achieve. With it, compliance, brand safety, and audience acceptance increase significantly.

AI Everywhere

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its increasing impact on content creation, marketing, and virtual production were everywhere at NAB 2025. Nearly 300 exhibiting companies from around the world demonstrated products that included or were enhanced by AI across every phase of content production, marketing, advertising, and distribution. Among them, Spherex highlighted its flagship product, SpherexAI, and demonstrated how it is transforming global video compliance and contextual advertising through scene-level intelligence and cultural insight. It also facilitates ad placement where they will resonate and yield better audience results.

The takeaways from NAB 2025 paint a clear picture: the media and entertainment landscape is in constant flux, demanding adaptability and innovation for survival. The undeniable surge of the creator economy, coupled with market and regulatory uncertainties and the evolving monetization models driven by streaming, presents both challenges and opportunities for traditional and new players. Overlaying all of this is the pervasive influence of artificial intelligence, poised to reshape every facet of the industry.

Ultimately, NAB 2025 underscored a fundamental truth: standing still is no longer an option. The future of media and entertainment belongs to those who embrace change, leverage new technologies, and understand the shifting dynamics of both content creation and audience engagement.

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