Two-Thirds of Netflix Households Worldwide Sampled ‘Squid Game’ in First 4 Weeks

Not a typo

squid game Netflix
Netflix

Game over, every other show: “Squid Game” has been watched by 142 million Netflix member households within its first four weeks, the streaming service said on Tuesday. There are currently about 214 million global streaming paid memberships.

We’ll handle the math portion of this for you: 142 million is 66% of 214 million, which means two-thirds of Netflix households have sampled “Squid Game” in less than one month.

Netflix used the term “mind-boggling” in announcing the number. Yeah, we agree.

“The breadth of iSquid Game’s popularity is truly amazing; this show has been ranked as our No. 1 program in 94 countries (including the US),” the streaming service said this afternoon.

Netflix counts a “view” as any time a user watches 2 minutes or more of an offering. But the streaming service says it is switching up how it presents ratings.

“Later in the year, we will shift to reporting on hours viewed for our titles rather than the number of accounts that choose to watch them,” the company said Tuesday in its quarterly investor letter. “It also matches how outside services measure TV viewing and gives proper credit to rewatching. In addition, we will start to release title metrics more regularly outside of our earnings report so our members and the industry can better measure success in the streaming world.”

“Squid Game,” which was released on Sept. 17, isn’t the only thing Netflix has going for it — it’s just the largest. Find the company’s third-quarter 2021 financial performance here.

Netflix reported diluted earnings per share of $3.19 on $7.483 billion in revenue. Net income was $1.449 billion.

Netflix is surely banking on “Squid Game” to bring in new subscribers: The streaming service is forecasting to top 222 million subscribers when it reports its fourth quarter earnings early next year, which would be an addition of 8.5 million subs.

Comments