Younghee, the large robotic doll from Netflix thriller “Squid Game,” exhibited on the Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea. “Squid Game” was a world success and stays Netflix’s most-watched present of all time.
Chung Sung-jun | Getty Images
Netflix is spending $2.5 billion on Korean content and sees alternatives past the Asian area, mentioned Don Kang, Netflix’s vp of Korean content.
Over the following 4 years, Netflix will invest $2.5 billion in various types of Korean content spanning TV collection, movies and nonfiction reveals, Kang advised CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.” He mentioned it can double the variety of nonfiction reveals it’s producing, from about 4 in 2022 to at the least eight this yr, reflecting the Korean viewers’s demand for selection reveals.
These embrace the fact present “Physical 100” it launched earlier this yr, which encompasses a hundred contestants battling one another in a collection of bodily strenuous challenges.
“I think that was really the first nonfiction show to have global viewing, getting people really excited,” he mentioned. Korean competitors or nonfiction reveals do not sometimes journey very far outdoors Korea and the Asia-Pacific area, however Kang mentioned the success of “Physical 100” is a “really positive sign.”
“Physical 100” topped Netflix’s weekly viewership for non-English TV reveals for 2 weeks in 2022. Another Korean selection present that earned international success in 2022 was actuality courting present “Single’s Inferno,” which Kang mentioned featured in the worldwide high 10 listing.
Expanding to a world viewers
Kang mentioned he labored on the worldwide distribution of Korean reveals earlier than becoming a member of Netflix in 2018. “Back then it was mostly romantic comedies” that obtained traction, he mentioned. Distribution was restricted to close by nations like Japan and different Southeast Asian nations due to language and cultural variations in different areas, he added.
But Netflix invests in localization by means of subtitles and dubbing, which removes language as a primary barrier to entry and “makes a world of difference,” he mentioned.
“You can’t underestimate the … diverse tastes that people have all around the world,” Kang mentioned, citing the thriller collection “Squid Game” for instance. Netflix had thought-about altering its title to one thing with extra context for worldwide viewers, however finally saved its authentic “catchy title that provokes curiosity,” mentioned Kang.
Netflix’s slate of Korean content introduced up to now for this yr additionally diversifies away from romance, together with genres like drama, apocalyptic in addition to social commentary and intrigue alongside its nonfiction reveals.
Kang mentioned Korea has the flexibility to inform tales that convey its distinctive tradition, but in addition resonate with the common feelings of worldwide viewers. “When a show is loved by a Korean audience, it has a very, very high likelihood of being loved by audiences … around the world.”
