How ‘The Glory’ Ignited Netflix’s South Korean Success, Adding $36 Million to Revenue

Discover how Netflix’s revenue soared in South Korea due to the hit K-drama “The Glory” and new account sharing policies. Despite setbacks, can Netflix maintain its growth? Get the latest insights here.

Last year, Netflix had a big win in South Korea, with their revenue shooting up by around 50 billion KRW (roughly 36 million USD). This boost was mainly thanks to the massive success of the K-drama series “The Glory” and some new rules about sharing paid accounts. This info comes from Netflix’s 2023 audit report for their South Korean branch, showing they made about 823.34 billion KRW (or 595 million USD) in total.

But, even with all that extra cash flowing in, Netflix’s operating profit in Korea took a slight hit, dropping by around 2.2 billion KRW (or 1.6 million USD) to about 12.05 billion KRW (or 8.7 million USD). Turns out, they had to spend more on marketing and admin stuff.

“The Glory” really stole the spotlight when it first aired in December 2022, quickly becoming the top show in South Korea and beyond. This helped Netflix get even more subscribers. And when Part 2 came out in March, it kept the hype going, shooting straight to the top of Netflix’s global TV charts right after its release.

The stats from Mobile Index show just how crazy things got after “The Glory” Part 2 hit screens. The number of people using the Netflix app shot up by a whopping 55.6% to about 4.74 million users the day after it came out. That’s a big leap from the 3.05 million users just the day before.

But, even with all this good news, there’s a bit of a downer. Netflix mentioned they lost around 800,000 users in March compared to the month before. This up-and-down pattern makes some folks wonder if Netflix can keep up its success in such a competitive market.

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