AT the end of 2024, one TV show took the streaming world by storm: Squid Game. According to Nielsen data, the South Korean drama shattered all viewing records in just one week, becoming the most-watched series of the year.
One more record for Netflix’s South Korean hit. Between Dec 23 and 29, 2024, Squid Game accumulated a staggering total of 4.9 billion minutes viewed, according to figures from Nielsen, relayed by Variety. This figure includes viewings of the second season, available since Dec 26, 2024, as well as those of the first season. Of the 16 episodes available in total, the second season accounted for over 4 billion of these minutes viewed during its first week on the platform.
Squid Game accumulated more than double the number of minutes viewed than the TV show which ranked second in terms of views during the same week – Virgin River.”
Since its return, Squid Game has been racking up records. The most-watched international series in India, the third most-watched series on Netflix, the South Korean drama has also achieved the best launch in the platform’s history.
Not only did the series dominate the ranking of most-watched non-English series, but it also enabled the first season to climb back into the Netflix top 10. Within just 11 days, Squid Game achieved an impressive 126.2 million views. This result exceeds that of any other series on Netflix in the same timeframe, setting a new record for the platform.
The success of Squid Game is part of a wider trend where non-English content is increasingly captivating Netflix subscribers.
Seven other film and TV titles exceeded the billion-minutes-viewed mark during this period. Among them, Netflix’s romantic series Virgin River totaled 2.2 billion minutes viewed over 64 episodes, the Christmas movie Red One starring Dwayne Johnson on Prime Video reached 1.8 billion, and he thriller Carry-On accumulated 1.5 billion minutes viewed. Other titles such as The Six Triple Eight, Bluey, Landman” and The Equalizer also passed the billion minutes viewed mark. – ETX Sudio
