Numbers and causes of the phenomenon

One night, in a house in Argentina, a group of friends gather to watch the new season of a drama series Boys. Someone suggests putting it in the original, but the rest protest: “Leave it folded, so we can understand the jokes better.”. No one is surprised. A scene that was rare a decade ago among fans of the series is quite common today. The habit of watching dubbed content is no longer associated with negligence or laziness. Rather, it is A symptom of the times: The way audiences decide the appropriateness of audiovisual narratives has changedDubbing has become part of the cultural experience.

In many Argentine homes, Dubbing has already become part of the after-dinner routine. In the living room or with your companion on the side, Korean dramas are just as enjoyable as English comedies, as long as they “talk like us”. Not on a whim, but because Hearing “you” in the middle of dialogue makes it feel like the story is happening across the street..

According to data from consulting company Nielsen. More than 60% of users of streaming platforms in Latin America prefer to watch movies and series dubbed into their local language. In the case of motion or animated content, The percentage rises to 75%.

A Parrot Analytics study confirms this Dubbing not only improves accessibility but also increases screen timeone of the most sought-after indicators by platforms. It is not a simple matter of listening comfort, but a profound shift in the way cultural consumption is done.

The same Nielsen report mentions this Consumption of dubbed content has increased by more than 40% in the last five years, and titles with subtitled versions reduce the abandonment rate by 25%.. Platforms have realized that voice also builds belonging. When the story feels close, the viewer stays longer and may see it again.

For many years, watching a dubbed film was considered a kind of cinematic sacrilege. In the 1990s, cable cemented the idea The original translated version was the “correct” version. Dubbed sounds were seen as interference and a loss of authenticity. But the audience has changed, and so have the technologies. With the expansion of My neighbor, Professional dubbing has undergone a silent revolution: increased investment, study of local dialects, and a technical level that erases old quality differences..

Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video quickly realized that audio could be a tool for cultural identification. For this reason, dubbing also takes place in Mexico or Miami Speak in Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Madrid or Santiagodepending on the destination market. In Argentina, the emergence of studios such as Civisa or MediaPro reflected this professionalism: Natural sounds, modified expressions, and local rhythms. When a letter Strange things He says “Come on, let’s go.” Instead “Andal”It is more than just translation, It’s an aesthetic and emotional choice.

This adaptation of idioms also has sThe magic of your identity. In recent diplomas, Translators began to sneak in phrases like “Impossible”, “Busta” also “Let’s go”little gems of the Castilian River Plate They act as winks to collusion with the local public.

poll for Argentine Association of Dubbing Translators (AAID) explains this In the past five years, the number of actors working in the industry has tripled, and? More than 60% of international productions destined for the Southern Cone are recorded in national studios. The phenomenon has also spawned a new creative economy: dubbing workshops, niche podcasts, and communities of fans who follow voices as if they were stars.

Recognizable sounds such as voices Natalia Rozminati also Sebastian Labor – which originated among advertisements, animated series and Hollywood films – today is as much a part of the daily imagination as a cumbia chorus. The dub is no longer invisible: she has a face, an accent and fans.

Cultural sociologist Martin Becerra He asserts that dubbing, far from weakening identity, “serves as a cultural medium that allows the story to be customized without the barrier of language.” In other words, Dubbing does not impoverish the narrative experience, but rather reformulates it. The teenager who discovers Very bad In Spanish River Plate, you can feel the story as your own, with a different degree of empathy than you might feel when reading translations.

A study by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) reinforces this idea: 80% of viewers remember the scene more accurately when they hear it in their native languageUnderstanding emotional differences increases by 35% when the sound is associated with familiar patterns. thus, In addition to understanding, we seek to feel.

Globalization My neighbor It also led to an understanding of platforms The power of sound as an emotional element. Parrot Analytics has verified this Titles with region-compatible dubbing get 20% more engagement Maintaining a 15% higher frequency of translated versions. Dubbing, as well as approximation, builds loyalty.

If dubbing in the 80s was a subject of ridicule -Who doesn’t remember those neutral translations without the nuances of the cartoons?Today the panorama has completely changed. Dubbing on social networks is a phenomenon in itself. Versions of famous scenes with improvised or parodied voices abound on TikTok and Instagram. These fun activities, often made using artificial intelligence, are an example of the new link between voice, identity and humour. Dubbing has become a lingua franca, a way of rewriting the global from the local.

The Statista report on digital consumption indicates this One in three viral videos on networks reuses dubbed audio recordings or transcriptions of known voices. Beyond humour, this practice demonstrates a contemporary fascination with reappropriating narrative through sound.

Younger audiences don’t feel the need to “respect” the original. What you are looking for is instant connection. According to Deloitte Media Trends, 72% of viewers aged 18-34 choose dubbed audio for convenience And proximity to their everyday language. Only 28% of those over 45 maintain their preference for translation. For the consultant, this difference reflects a generational change in the way stories are viewed and processed: The new audience prefers emotion over linguistic fidelity.

In Argentina, this trend is also reflected in production. Local sounds are being exported throughout the region and dubbing schools are experiencing an unprecedented boom. string like The director or department of Palermo inspired the new “voice actors” to think of their craft no longer as a supplement, but as an art form in itself.. Dubbing, which was previously done in closed studios of unknown origin, Today it has faces, networks and followers.

According to research conducted by the Complutense University of Madrid, Dubbing acts as a “space of cultural hybridization”: instead of erasing the original identity, it translates it into a regional key. In Argentina, the dubbing of River Plate is seen as more “emotional and spontaneous”. The Mexicans maintain a more neutral record. This vocal diversity contributes to a plurality of viewpoints within the same global content.

It’s a strange thing: for years it was thought that to become “international” you had to neutralize your accent. Today, originality is the opposite. At the time when A Streamer Buenos Aires may have had followers in Mexico or Spain, and the dialect became a marker of origin, A kind of recognizable cultural stamp such as dulce de leche or fileteado.

behind this expansion There is a profound change between generations. Young people have grown up watching fragmented content, on multiple screens and with fragmented attention. They prefer to listen rather than read, and process rather than decode.. Dubbing fits perfectly into this logic: Allows you to follow the story while cooking, chatting or… Scrolling (make the screen scroll content). But it would be simplistic to reduce it to multitasking. Dubbing is also a form of cultural appropriation, an emotional translation from the universal to the intimate.

VoiceLabs, which advises global production companies, appreciates this 30% of current dubbing already combines artificial intelligence and human supervision. However, 85% of viewers still rated the real interpretation as warmer and more believable. Even in the age of automation, The human voice retains its ability to persuade.

In industry, this phenomenon is redefining strategies. Platforms are investing in adapting content to local dialects. It is a bet that combines market and affection. Because, as An internal Netflix report noted that “the voice telling a story can be as crucial as the story itself.”.

The preference for dubbing, then, is not a passing fad, but rather a reflection of the times in which we live. A time when linguistic boundaries fade, however The need to feel represented is reinforced. Behind every dubbed voice there is a cultural choice, and a search for belonging. Maybe, in the end, it’s not about understanding every word, it’s about them Find yourself in the tone, in the rhythm, in that familiarity that turns a foreign story into your own.