Despite Success Of ‘Squid Game', Koreans Are Choosing YouTube Over Netflix
Earlier this week we brought news that South Korean content is now second only to the U.S. on Netflix, but it appears Korean audiences are opting for YouTube over the streamer.
According to new research from Digital-i, which examined YouTube viewing for the first time, South Korean people with active YouTube accounts spent a whopping 210 minutes (3 hours 30 minutes) per day watching the platform in the final quarter of last year, which was second only to Japan (214 minutes) in the countries measured.
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Koreans who subscribe to Netflix spent less than half that time (96 minutes) watching the streamer, which airs Korean hits like Squid Game, Love Next Door and Queen of Tears.
Digital-i found by far and away the biggest gap between YouTube and Netflix viewing in Japan and South Korea, with other nations much more equal. In the U.S., active Netflix subs watched 117 minutes of Netflix per day in Q4 2024 while the figure for YouTube was 97. In the UK, the figures were 89 and 95 respectively. Italy had the biggest gap in the opposite direction, with 91 minutes viewed daily on Netflix versus 54 on YouTube.
The research niftily demonstrates the challenges faced by the streamers and traditional broadcasters when faced with the might of the Google-owned platform. Digital-i also noted that long-form viewing on YouTube has risen to account for 68% of total viewing time compared with 53% three years ago. The streamers and YouTube have of course been combining on shows like The Sidemen's Inside, which launched its second season on Netflix, and Amazon's Beast Games from top YouTuber Mr Beast.
'YouTube has become an integral part of how younger audiences consume content,' said Digital-i Chief Analytics Officer Matt Ross. 'The challenge for the industry now is understanding how to respond to this fragmented, highly personalised viewing behaviour in a meaningful way.'
Live sports driver
Digital-i's latest Trend Report titled 'Evolving Streamer Strategies' did shine a light on how the SVoDs' push into ads and live sports is reaping rewards.
The biggest Netflix subscription driver in the final quarter of last year was the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight, according to the report, which was watched by 457,000 new subscriber accounts, just ahead of Squid Game Season 2 on 410,000. Fourth on the list was the NFL Christmas Gameday match between the Chiefs and the Steelers. The vast majority of these events were watched live, totalling more than 100 million Netflix viewers as the streamer pivots towards sport.
On the ads side, Amazon's strategy of moving all Prime Video users onto an ad-supported plan by default accrued a significant share of hours viewed for shows like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and Cross, which gathered 67% and 71% of their viewing respectively from ad-supported accounts. Nearly 90% of Prime Video Subs watched ads in Q4 2024, Digital-i said.
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