K-Entertainment Tech Hub Estimates Raise Concerns Over “Inaccurate Information”
When claims were made that season 2 of the Netflix series “Squid Game” would generate at least 1.5 trillion won in revenue, Netflix dismissed these as “not true.” In a statement on January 1, Netflix clarified, “There are parts of the revenue analysis of ‘Squid Game 2’ released by a domestic research organization that are entirely different from the facts. Subscription-based services like Netflix cannot generate additional revenue from individual view counts or watch hours. It is impossible to calculate revenue based on the success of a single production.”
Previously, K-EnterTechHub, a media research institute, forecasted that season 2 would generate at least 1.5 trillion won, noting that the production cost for season 1 was about 25 billion won, which resulted in 1 trillion won in revenue, suggesting a return on investment of approximately 40 times the cost.
Season 2, released on November 26, reached the top of the TV show viewing charts in 93 countries within two days, achieving a perfect score of 930 according to FlixPatrol, a site that tracks OTT content viewership rankings worldwide. For season 1, reaching the top took eight days.
K-EnterTechHub also noted that the production cost for season 2 was approximately four times that of season 1, estimated at around 100 billion won. Based on the trend seen with season 1, they projected at least a tenfold return on the production cost.
Data analytics company Parrot Analytics also reported that season 2’s “spreadability” in the U.S. was 108%, 8 percentage points higher than the demand in Korea, with high spreadability also seen in France (95%), Russia (81%), and Taiwan (80%).
Netflix responded by stating that estimates or predictions of individual content’s additional revenue align with the revenue analysis methods used for box-office results from movie ticket sales or in pay-per-view VOD services. They added, “These methods are not applicable to subscription-based services where members pay a fixed monthly fee to watch unlimited content.”
Furthermore, Netflix remarked, “Netflix is based on producing content funded by the monthly subscription fees paid by its members,” expressing concern that incorrect analyses or claims might cause the spread of inaccurate information.
Meanwhile, in its first week, season 2 garnered viewing times totaling approximately 487.6 million hours globally, nearly reaching 500 million hours. It surpassed the record set by season 1, which had 448.73 million hours in its debut week, becoming the most-watched content in Netflix history for a debut week.
Netflix plans to release season 3 this year.