What TV shows, movies Australians are streaming compared to the world

New research has revealed what audiences across the globe are streaming most and culturally there can be quite a difference. Global trends reveal what we like to watch Down Under.

Australians love a bit of drama. From movies to TV series on streaming channels, local viewers’ appetite for the gripping narratives and intense stories of the genre is on the increase according to a new global study.

The Cloudwards research, based on data from popular streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Disney, Google, Amazon, and iTunes, reveals intriguing genre preferences shaped by different cultures.

Cloudwards surveyed people from across the world about their preferences from 18 genres: adventure, fantasy, sci-fi, superhero, animated, family, comedy, romance, unscripted, musical, drama, crime, thriller, horror, Western, war and documentary.

Drama dominates as the reigning champion of entertainment in Australia, with about one in six Aussies nominating it as their genre of choice.

Teresa Palmer stars in Disney Plus's first Australian original TV series The Clearing. Picture: Supplied

Animated movies and series follow closely, while war movies are the least preferred genre in Australia, with only one in 71 individuals choosing to watch them.

Viewers are switching off from the traditional distraction of rom-coms with only 4.17 per cent choosing them as their preferred entertainment. This trend reflects a global decline in the romance genre’s popularity in 2023.

Foxtel Group has continued to capitalise on the huge local appetite for quality drama, locking in a new deal with HBO this year which means current and past seasons of the uber US network’s most-watched series including House of the Dragon, Succession and The White Lotus will continue to be available for millions of Australians across both Foxtel and Binge.

Aussie audiences love watching drama. Nina Oyama and Kate Box start in the new murder mystery series, Deadloch.

Max original series including Dune: The Sisterhood, The Batman spin-off and The Penguin and Duster series by J.J Adams are included in the agreement as well. The highly-anticipated second season of Sex and The City reboot – And Just Like That – will drop in Australia, in line with the its US release, on Thursday.

Binge executive director Alison Hurbert-Burns was proud that Binge continued to bring the world’s best and biggest dramas to Australia audiences.

“At the heart of a great drama is great storytelling, brought to life by captivating characters, and Binge brings the world’s best (here),” she said.

“From classics like The Sopranos, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead to the new shows that everyone is talking about such as Succession, Binge original Love Me, and The Last of Us.”

Binge hit show Colin From Accounts stars Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall.

Just like Binge with Colin From Accounts and two seasons of Love Me, international streamers Prime Video and Disney+ have also tapped into the trend, commissioning Australian original drama content.

Deadloch – the twisty crime dramedy from Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney, filmed in Tasmania and starring award-winning actor Kate Box and Madeleine Sami – is currently sitting at No. 1 in Australia and No. 10 in the world for Prime Video.

AROUND THE GLOBE STREAMING HABITS

US and UK viewers also have a flair for the dramatic, with more than one in four Americans and one in six Brits preferring drama above all other 17 genres.

Canada is the only country in the world where Westerns reign as the most popular TV and movie genre, with 56 per cent of survey respondents nominating it as their favourite.

Animated movies and series reign supreme in the Caribbean and South America, with Brazil, the Bahamas, Bolivia, Jamaica, and Mexico leading the trend.

Spain and Singapore are the only countries in 2023 where the sci-fi genre looms large.

Originally published as What TV shows, movies Australians are streaming compared to the world