According to the December 2nd-week TV-OTT drama buzz report released by K-Content online competitiveness analysis firm Good Data Corporation, “Squid Game 2” ranked first, proving its overwhelming influence.
Despite its scheduled release on December 26th, “Squid Game” Season 2 has already claimed the top spot in buzz scores two weeks prior to its release. Notably, it exceeded 20,000 points, demonstrating an overwhelming response. This figure vastly surpasses the 15,000-point score of “The Glory” Part 2, which ranked fifth two weeks prior to its release.
Won Soon-woo, Data PD at Good Data Corporation, predicted, “The buzz score for the first week of its release is expected to break the all-time opening record. The cast of ‘Squid Game 2’ is also highly likely to dominate the buzz rankings for actors.”
“Squid Game 2” is the sequel to “Squid Game”, which gained immense popularity with its shocking twists and thriller elements upon its Netflix release. The first season is widely recognized as one of Netflix’s most successful series and a key contributor to introducing Korean dramas to global viewers.
At the time, “Squid Game” was viewed by 111 million paid subscriber households within 17 days of release. This figure significantly surpassed the previous record set by “Bridgerton” Season 1. It also marked the first-ever series to achieve 100 million household views across all content.
The main cast of Season 1 included actors Lee Jung-jae, Gong Yoo, Lee Byung-hun, Jung Ho-yeon and Wi Ha-joon.
In the second season, a host of new faces has joined the lineup. Actors Park Sung-hoon, Kang Ha-neul, Im Si-wan and Yang Dong-geun have been added, further heightening anticipation for the drama.
The recently released main trailer for “Squid Game” Season 2 drew enthusiastic reactions from netizens, with comments such as, “This Christmas, I’ll be spending it with Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae’s character) instead of Kevin”, “The first season was such a phenomenal hit… The production team must feel immense pressure, but I still have high hopes for Season 2“, “Can ‘Squid Game’ surpass itself? I really hope it turns out great” and “I’m so excited! Season 1 was legendary, and I’ll be keeping my expectations high for this one.”
Ranking second was JTBC’s weekend drama “The Tale of Lady Ok”. This drama showed an increase in buzz, securing the second spot.
In third place was MBC’s Friday-Saturday drama “When the Phone Rings”, which climbed one rank from the previous week. This drama topped the Voice of Netizen (VON) category, confirming the intense reactions from netizens.
From fourth to eighth place, various dramas maintained strong rankings.
tvN’s weekend drama “Love Your Enemy”, Disney+’s original series “Light Shop”, Netflix’s original series “The Trunk” and tvN’s Monday-Tuesday drama “Parole Examiner Lee” followed in order.
In ninth place was Coupang Play’s original series “Family Matters”, which showed a 52.8% increase in buzz from the previous week. KBS 2TV’s weekend drama “Iron Family” rounded out the top 10.
The Good Data Corporation’s December 2nd-week survey analyzed TV dramas and OTT original dramas that were airing between December 9th and 15th or scheduled to be released, as well as related information about their cast.
The buzz survey includes data from news articles, VON (Voice of Netizen), videos (clips and shorts), and program-related information and responses on SNS.
Meanwhile, “Squid Game” Season 2 will be released on December 26th via Netflix.
