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Netflix Is Winning Streaming’s Squid Game 

By October 28, 2021November 11th, 2021No Comments

Netflix subscriber growth in 2021-Q3:
1) 
Projected – 3.5M
2) 
Actual – 4.4M

Netflix subscribers by quarter (YoY growth):
1) 
2015-Q3 – 69.2M
2) 
2016-Q3 – 86.7M (↑ 25%)
3) 2017-Q3 – 104.0M (↑ 20%)
4) 2018-Q3 – 130.4M (↑ 25%)
5) 2019-Q3 – 158.3M (↑ 21%)
6) 2020-Q3 – 195.2M (↑ 23%)
7) 2021-Q3 – 213.6M (↑ 9%)

Netflix subscribers (% of total):
1) 
International – 139.5M (65%)
2) U.S./Canada – 74.0M (35%)
3) Total – 213.6M

Wow: 25% of Netflix subscribers watch it more than any other video service, including broadcast and cable TV.

Key details for Squid Games:
1) Launched worldwide on September 17th
2) 10 episodes
3) $21.4M to produce ($2.4M/episode)
4) 142M households (≈ 2/3 of user base) started in the first four weeks
5) 87M households (62% who started) finished the entire season
6) #1 show on Netflix in 90 countries
7) 95% of viewers are outside South Korea
8) Subtitled in 31 languages and dubbed in 13
9) Generated $891M in “value” for the company

Why this matters: Netflix has been able to turn non-English shows (Narcos, Dark, Money Heist, etc.) into worldwide hits.  Squid Games has taken this to another level.

Netflix content spend (YoY increase):
1) 2013 – $2.0B
2) 
2014 – $3.0B (↑ 50%)
3) 2015 – $4.0B (↑ 33%)
4) 2016 – $5.0B (↑ 25%)
5) 2017 – $6.0B (↑ 20%)
6) 2018 – $8.0B (↑ 33%)
7) 2019 – $13.9B (↑ 74%)
8) 2020 – $11.8B (↓ 15%)
9) 2021P – $17.0B (↑ 44%)

Netflix content spend by country in 2021 according to the Wall Street Journal:
1) South Korea – ≈ $500M
2) India – ≈ $200M+

Video: Netflix Co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos | Full Interview | Code 2021

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.

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