Netflix might be battling a controversy or two, and intense competition, but it’s found there’s no better balm than a huge hit.
Since its debut on September 17th, Squid Game has proved to be a sensation for Netflix.
Six weeks ago, who’d actually heard of Squid Game? And who would have wagered that a South Korean drama, available either subtitled or dubbed, would be the show to reverse a decline in Netflix’s expansion? Yet here we are with the must-see television phenomenon of the year.
Since its debut on September 17th, the nine episode drama has proved the kind of sensation that other streaming services must wish they could unearth with the efficiency that Netflix seems to manage. It’s not just that it’s been a huge success, it’s been a success everywhere. An international smash, transcending borders and attracting eyeballs in gigantic numbers.
It’s also proven to be the bargain of the year.
Since Squid Game’s debut, the nine episode drama has proved the kind of sensation other streaming services wish they could unearth
As has been widely reported, the show cost Netflix $21.4m in all. A report over at Bloomberg suggested that the show has been worth some $900m in value to the streaming giant too, with the magnetic pull of a megahit – one that’s dominated headlines – already sending its share price north by 7%.
On top of that, viewer engagement with Netflix – a posh way of saying how much its subscribers have watched it – has been heading upwards too, and the firm has, if you’ll permit a brief sojourn to cliché corner, a sizeable ‘water cooler’ moment. Appreciating that most of us work from home these days, and get our water from the tap.
The good news has kept on coming for Netflix too: over 142 million households have now apparently watched the show, and Squid Game is said to be one of the catalysts for that. It’s already become the company’s biggest hit to date, and just to ice the cake, 4.4 million subscribers were added to its roster in the last quarter, running July to September 2021.
Crucially for Netflix, this has arrested a decline in growth too: that its subscriber surge was significantly slowing (as lockdowns loosened, and the fierce competition from the likes of Amazon and Disney upped its game), and the feeling was that the firm was moving to the next part of its evolution – less about growing, more about holding on to what it had.
But what Squid Game has proven is that if you generate a massive hit, it can throw a disruptive spanner into all manner of predictions. Netflix is back on the rise.
It’s come at a useful time for Netflix as well. The firm has found itself in the midst of some backlashes in recent weeks after all.
What Squid Game has proven is that if you generate a massive hit, it can throw a disruptive spanner into all manner of predictions
Squid Game is behind one of them, with concern the children are watching a show that, politely, perhaps they shouldn’t. Separately, comedian Dave Chappelle’s new stand-up show has faced accusations of transphobia, with staff set to walk out in protest at Netflix backing the programme. The co-CEO of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, has gone on record saying that he “screwed up” in his response to the controversy, but the issue is still bubbling on and not going away.
Yet as soon as a fresh headline about Squid Game lands – with a second season pretty much a certainty – the narrative instantly shifts to one Netflix prefers. And the hard truth is that it’s continually delivering with its core aim: must-see shows that its viewership not only want to watch, but want to talk about.
That’s the magic elixir that others are striving for. As much as the competition against Netflix is toughening up, at the moment, nobody is doing this kind of thing better. And whilst that continues, there’s nothing like a massive success to paper over what else may be going on.
