Television, Translation, and Algorithms on Netflix

Apr 28, 2025

Elia Cornelio Marí, an Assistant Professor specializing in television and audience studies, shares her insights on the evolving landscape of streaming media. She discusses the significance of melodrama in Netflix’s strategy for Latin American audiences. The conversation dives into how translation impacts viewer perceptions in Mexico and Italy. Elia also explores the concept of cultural proximity, explaining why some series resonate more than others across different cultures. Dubbing vs. subtitling is examined, revealing how these choices affect cultural identity and media reception.

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INSIGHT

Cultural Proximity Defines Preferences

Cultural proximity describes how audiences prefer media reflecting their life and traditions.
It explains why local adaptations thrive even in globalized media markets.

INSIGHT

Netflix Combines Data With Melodrama

Netflix used data analysis combined with local content production to succeed in Mexico.
Melodrama serves as a cultural foundation and strategic ingredient in their series.

ANECDOTE

Netflix Adapted To Local Payments

Netflix introduced gift cards and allowed account sharing to overcome payment and internet challenges in Mexico.
Sharing accounts aligned well with Mexican social and family practices, boosting platform adoption.

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How do media producers appeal to international audiences in the streaming era?

In this episode of the Global Media & Communication podcast, our host Juan Llamas-Rodriguez interviews Elia Cornelio Marí about her research on Mexican melodramas, Netflix algorithms, and television in translation.

In this episode you will hear about:

Why melodrama became an important genre in the development of Netflix’s original series across Latin America

How translation affects the reception of television in Mexico and Italy

The concept of “cultural proximity” and how it helps explain what TV series become popular across different national cultures

The Global Media & Communication podcast series is a multimodal project powered by the Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication (CARGC) at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. At CARGC, we produce and promote critical, interdisciplinary, and multimodal research on global media and communication. We aim to bridge academic scholarship and public life, bringing the best scholarship to bear on enduring global questions and pressing contemporary issues.

Guest Biography:

Elia Cornelio Marí is Assistant Professor at the Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Mexico. She holds a PhD in Communication, Technology and Society by La Sapienza University of Rome, and a M.A. in Media Studies by the University of Texas at Austin. She specializes in television studies. Her publications focus on the original production of Netflix for Mexico, the reception of dubbed television by international audiences, and the practice of binge-watching among college students. She is a member of RELATA, the Latin American Network of Audience and Reception Studies.

Host Biography:

Juan Llamas-Rodriguez is a researcher and educator interested in how media theories allow us to critically analyze social phenomena on a global scale. He works as assistant professor in the Annenberg School for Communication and associate director of the Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Border Tunnels: A Media Theory of the US-Mexico Underground (University of Minnesota Press, 2023) and Y Tu Mamá También: A Queer Film Classic (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2025), and editor of Media Travels: Toward an Atlas of Global Media (Amherst College Press, 2025).

Credits
Interview by: Juan Llamas-Rodriguez

Produced by: Juan Llamas-Rodriguez
Edited by: Anna Gamarnik

Keywords: algorithms, animation, dubbing, Mexico, Netflix, translation

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