Last Updated on: 4th January 2024, 11:43 am
Competition between streaming services has become fierce during the past few years. But despite new entrants like Max (formerly HBO Max) and Disney+, Netflix continues to captivate fans with great stories from all around the globe.
Some of the company’s global success traces back to Diego Ávalos, Netflix’s VP of content for Spain, Portugal, and the Nordics. Under Ávalos’ watch, the popularity of Spanish-language content has skyrocketed worldwide, and paying Netflix subscribers in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region have surpassed those in the U.S.
Diego Ávalos has proven to be an expert at nurturing local talent while producing stories with global appeal. The result is a growing loyalty among Spanish-speaking audiences and an ever-increasing demand for Spanish-language content abroad.
Ávalos has had so much success during his almost 10-year tenure at Netflix that the company continues to look to him to guide the Spain, Portugal, and Nordics content strategies. “You have to put your personal taste aside,” he says. “You need to think of the audience. I think that’s a big challenge for people.”
Diego Ávalos: The Man Before Netflix
Diego Ávalos was born and raised in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico — ”a beach paradise,” he says. Cabo instilled in him a deep appreciation for diverse cultures and stories. “The creative side was always very deep in me, especially books,” he recalls. “Storytelling was definitely there all the time.” This love of stories would lead him to become one of the most influential content executives many years later.
Ávalos’ path to entertainment began with his academic pursuits. He studied business and operation management information systems with a minor in anthropology at Santa Clara University in California. This unique combination of studies gave him a holistic view of the world, which later influenced his approach to content creation and distribution.
Ávalos began his professional journey at Deloitte, where he worked as a consultant. This role provided him with a solid foundation in business operations and strategy — something that would prove critical to the management aspect of his position at Netflix.
He later transitioned to Yahoo, where he focused on content and business development for Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market. This provided him with an unrivaled insight into the needs of Spanish-speaking audiences.
Netflix Spain’s Formation and Initial Struggles
It wasn’t long before Netflix came knocking. At the time, Netflix was defining its global strategy — and it wasn’t even sure of Ávalos.
“It was a really odd first contact with them,” Ávalos shares. “It was basically, ‘You kind of have the experience we want, but you don’t have the experience we need, but you seem interesting.’”
Still, Netflix hired him as a senior acquisition manager of content — and he worked his way up to become vice president of content for its Spanish, Portuguese, and Nordic markets.
At a certain stage, Netflix was having growing pains, particularly in Latin America. It was up to Diego Ávalos to drive excellent content curation and creation to increase viewership across many markets.
Ávalos proved himself to be an expert manager almost immediately. The first production under his belt, Club de Cuervos (Club of Crows), was a massive hit in his home nation of Mexico.
The Ávalos Ethos: Local Stories With International Appeal
As Diego Ávalos was overseeing the construction of Netflix’s European studio outside Madrid, he understood the massive potential of Spanish creative talent — from writers to producers to actors.
He could have produced general content around global themes (as many others had), but instead, he decided to focus on Spanish and Latin American stories, traditions, and culture. Ávalos believes in the power of authentic storytelling, and equivocating for global audiences would only serve to dumb down that authenticity.
This approach helped Netflix in Spain connect with the local audience and establish a strong foothold in the Spanish-speaking market.
But it did more than that.
The content that Netflix Spain produced under Ávalos began to draw massive non-Spanish-speaking audiences worldwide — audiences who were attracted to authentic stories and vibrant Spanish and Latin American culture.
In the U.S., Spanish-language content became the third-most in-demand among viewers (after English and Japanese, the latter of which is largely due to the growing popularity of anime). The shows responsible for this boost (Money Heist — La Casa de Papel in Spanish — and Élite, among others) were produced under Ávalos’ watch.
Today, five of the top 10 most-watched non-English language shows worldwide are in Spanish. Thanks to these successes, Netflix Spain received numerous industry accolades and set the benchmark for streaming on the continent.
It’s no wonder that Ávalos recently oversaw an expansion of Netflix’s Spain-based European studio, as well as an unprecedented slate of 30 new Spanish shows, films, and nonfiction series in 2023 alone.
Diego Ávalos’ Global Aspirations
Ávalos has helped turn Netflix into the popular video-on-demand service in Europe it is today. And now, the streamer is looking to him to help drive their global growth strategy.
His plan? Doubling down on his belief in Spain as a new center of worldwide entertainment production.
“[The Spanish] industry is as strong as Hollywood,” he said. “The talent behind and in front of the camera is at the world-class level.”
But he’s also working to grow the popularity of Spanish-created entertainment in creative new ways. For example, the massively popular Money Heist was recently rebooted for the Korean market with the release of Money Heist: Korea — Joint Economic Area.
Ávalos has also had an impact on the global popularity of non-English language shows. During his time with the streamer, viewing of non-English language titles has more than doubled.
What’s Next for Netflix in Spain?
As the popularity of Spanish-language content continues to rise, Ávalos envisions a bright future for streaming in Spain. With a larger studio and state-of-the-art post-production facilities on-site, he plans to ramp up content production. He’s hinted at several upcoming projects that aim to push the boundaries of storytelling and offer something unique to Netflix subscribers around the globe.
At the same time, he’s nurturing the relationships Netflix has built with its most popular storytellers. For example, Ávalos has signed an exclusive deal with Money Heist creator Álex Pina, and a spinoff of the successful crime thriller debuts later this year. He’s also signed a similar deal with Elite’s creator Carlos Montero, who has produced multiple hits for Netflix and has many more in the works.
There’s no slowing down for Diego Ávalos. And that’s good news for both Netflix and its subscribers, who are hungry for engaging stories from Spain and beyond.
