Netflix is playing a major role in propelling South Korean programming to its highest-ever global demand, according to Parrot Analytics data.
While global demand for Korean programming has been growing for several years, 2021 was a watershed moment when it achieved a level of mainstream acceptance that ultimately propelled “Squid Game” to become the most in-demand new series premiere of the year globally. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
In looking at the 10 most in-demand Korean series premieres of the past three years, the four biggest Korean series premieres of the past three years are all from Netflix. The streamer is playing a key role in bringing these shows to global audiences and helping them reach a level of demand that was previously unheard of.
Furthermore, five of the 10 premieres have been in the past six months alone following “Squid Game.” This shows how “Squid Game” helped expose new audiences to K-dramas and paved the way for these other recent successes.
Looking at the growing demand for Korean movies and series over the past three years, it’s clear that this has actually happened in two waves. The first came in 2019 on the back of the global success of the film “Parasite.”
From January 2019 to March 2020, global demand for Korean programming climbed by 80%. This was the first peak in demand for Korean programming and came after “Parasite’s” historic win at the Oscars that February when it became the first non-English language film to win the award for Best Picture.
Through 2020, demand for South Korean entertainment was up and down but ultimately didn’t regain the peak demand it saw in March. At the end of 2020, however, we saw the start of a strong upward trend in demand for Korean programming that has continued through today and has been driven by global success of series like “Squid Game.”
Netflix’s first original Korean series, the period horror-thriller “Kingdom,” is a great example of a show that has benefited from the growing global popularity of Korean programming. The first season, which premiered in January 2019, was moderately successful, with 8.4 times the average series demand globally in its first 30 days.
The show’s second season premiered in March 2020 during the post-“Parasite” peak of demand for Korean programming and had 18.5 times the demand — more than twice the global demand for its first season. There are two key takeaways from this example: “Kingdom” got a boost from a growing interest in Korean programming and it took audiences time to discover this show between its first and second season, when it reached its peak demand.
When we look at the top Korean series premiering today, it doesn’t take audiences time to discover them like it did with “Kingdom.” Instead, these series have become immediately successful global hits, among the most in-demand premieres in the world.
This is a good indicator that Korean series have reached a level of mainstream awareness and popularity after years of growing in demand. The foundations of this success were laid by “Parasite” in 2019, but 2021 was the year that demand for Korean entertainment finally reached a critical mass. And Netflix has played a critical role in propelling and sustaining that record demand.
