[Last Updated on March 24, 2022]
For the fourth time in a row, “All of Us Are Dead” has topped Netflix’s list of most popular shows in the non-English TV category based on weekly hours viewed.
“All of Us Are Dead” follows a group of high schoolers at ground zero of a zombie outbreak. It features fresh-faced actors including Park Ji-hu, Yoon Chan-young, Park Solomon and Cho Yi-hyun.
With 62.13 million hour views, the zombie-infected Korean drama ranks no. 1 in the global Top 10 list from February 14-20, 2022. It is at least 22 million hour views ahead of Colombian series “Café con aroma de mujer,” Spanish drama “Toy Boy” (season 1 & 2) and Mexican thriller “Dark Desire,” which round out the top 5.
During the same week, the series made it to the Top 10 in TV in 89 countries, ranking no. 1 in Bolivia, Peru, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Netflix’s newest breakout hit
Since premiering on January 28, the breakout K-drama has appeared in Netflix’s daily Top 10 lists in 94 countries. It also became no. 1 in the U.S. during its second week, becoming the second Korean series to dominate the weekly U.S. Top 10 after “Squid Game.”
“All of Us Are Dead” is also the only other Korean drama after “Squid Game” to hold the global top spot in more than one week. “Hellbound” and “The Silent Sea” topped the weekly global ranking only once in November and December 2022, respectively.
Lastly, the recent data from Netflix show that as of the week ending February 20, “All of Us Are Dead” is now the third most popular non-English TV show worldwide in terms of hours viewed in the first 28 days on the platform. With a record of 536.4 million hours, it is trailing behind the Spanish thriller “Money Heist: Part 4” and “Squid Game.”
These latest developments are a boon for Netflix, especially since it was only five months ago when it released “Squid Game,” which became its most successful series launch of all time. To date, “Squid Game” remains to be the only series to hit the 1 billion mark in hours viewed in the first 28 days.
Meanwhile, global favorite American shows “Bridgerton: Season 1” and “Stranger Things: Season 3” were viewed for 625.5 million and 582.1 million hours, respectively, in their first 28 days—numbers that pale in comparison to “Squid Game’s” 1.65 billion hour views.
Economic impact of Netflix K-content
All these prove successful Netflix’s decision to bet on Korean dramas in 2017 when it unveiled its plan to produce its first Korean original series “Love Alarm.” The streaming giant entered Asia in 2015 and has since made huge investments to roll out original productions in the region.
In South Korea alone, Netflix spent around $680 million producing Korean original content between 2016 and 2020. This amount contributed to a socio-economic impact worth 5.6 trillion won or US$4.7 billion across various industries in the country.
Source: Netflix Top 10