K-Content News

Netflix scouts local star producers to make hit entertainment shows

By Kim Jae-heun

Netflix has been successful in making hit original TV drama series here like "Kingdom," "Squid Game" and most recently "Hellbound."

However, it has been quiet in the sector of entertainment shows, despite its continuous efforts to make one since 2018. There has only been one original series in the entertainment show category, "Paik's Spirit" featuring renowned restaurateur Paik Jong-won, which made it into Netflix's top 10 list for viewers in Korea. It reached the highest place of fifth in October.

The show's success led the leading American over-the-top (OTT) service to scout Kim Tae-ho, the superstar entertainment show producer who released all 10 episodes of his new TV show "The Hungry and the Hairy" on Saturday.

Whether this new show will be another hit or not is unknown yet, as it has only been a day since its release, but Netflix is expecting a lot from it. Not only did Kim take part in this project, but it was also joined by other well-known producers, like Jang Woo-sung and Lee Ju-won. K-pop star Rain and TV personality Noh Hong-chul star in this entertainment show.

Since earlier this year, Netflix has been emphasizing the importance of producing original content in the entertainment show category.

Netflix Vice President of Content (APAC ex-India) Kim Min-young said during a recent press conference that "watching entertainment shows produced by local television networks, like JTBC's Knowing Bros, that receive a lot of love from audiences globally," gives him a firm belief that Netflix too will make a hit with original content.

"Though Netflix has to find its own way to make a popular entertainment series, taking into account the fact that existing hit content may fail on OTT platforms," Kim added.

Netflix has already revealed its plan to invest 550 billion won ($465.3 million) in making more successful Korean original content.

Other OTT players, such as CJ ENM's TVING, are also banking on producing entertainment shows, as they tend to attract customers and keep them hooked.

Entertainment series have recently emerged as a new "dark horse" due to the advantage of their cost-effectiveness.

"It costs less to produce entertainment shows compared to TV dramas. And if you make one well, it is easier for the genre to go viral and become very successful in the original content category," an industry source said. "Also, if it becomes successful, you can make second and third seasons based on it."