Netflix’s recent struggles with original content are tied to its declining subscriber numbers. Since original content is exclusive to the platform, it is vital to increase and maintain its user base to make original content profitable.
Data from management platform service Mobile Index showed that Netflix’s monthly active users in South Korea dropped by 16 per cent in six months, from 13.06 million in December to 10.96 million in June.
According to pop culture critic Jung Duk-hyun, Netflix’s funding decisions favour genre-specific content, particularly action-thrillers like Squid Game, and this has overshadowed other genres that have long been a cornerstone of Korean dramas, such as melodramas.
In a significant milestone for the Korean streaming industry, Tving surpassed Netflix in daily viewing hours for the first time. The daily viewing time of the final episode of Lovely Runner (based on mobile app data) on Tving, which streamed the drama exclusively, reached 2.5 million hours, surpassing Netflix’s 2.41 million hours on the same day.
Netflix, however, still has a few potential game-changers up its sleeve. The most anticipated is the second season of Squid Game, which will be released on December 26.
The platform also has a line-up of crime thrillers and action shows coming up. New romance dramas and variety shows, including a cooking competition and a comedy battle, are also in the works.
Yim Jung-su, a business communications professor at Seoul Women’s University, said that more original content can tie subscribers to their platforms, and emphasised that original content is still important for platforms to maintain their power.
“In general, the more exclusive and unreleased a new piece of content is, the more advantageous it is in acquiring and retaining subscribers,” the professor wrote in an article contributed to the Korea Creative Content Agency’s recently published Global OTT Trends report.
“This is why Netflix has invested in original content.”
