Netflix sensation KPop Demon Hunters has catapulted into July’s top-10 streaming title list, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge report.
This monthly snapshot of TV usage in the US also revealed that streaming hit another new high in viewership last month, accounting for 47.3% of all small-screen watchtime—its biggest share yet (up from 46% in June).
YouTube (13.4%) and Netflix (8.8%) were the top two platforms, with the latter laying claim to eight of last month’s top 10 streaming titles. Nielsen notes that Netflix recorded a 5% monthly viewing increase, thanks to a “steady” flow of new releases.
One of them was Netflix original movie KPop Demon Hunters, which racked up an impressive 3.51 billion minutes of watchtime to land in seventh spot—just behind Disney+ powerhouse Bluey (3.53 billion minutes).
Produced by Sony Animation and released on June 20, this music-driven pic subverted typical viewership patterns by becoming the streamer’s first film to reach a new viewing peak in its fifth week on the platform.
With more than 184.6 million views to date, KPop Demon Hunters is the second-biggest English-language movie of all time on Netflix. (And given that it’s only about 45 million views behind reigning number-one Red Notice, KPop is likely to unseat it sometime in Netflix’s next 91-day period for measuring film performance.)
It will be worth watching how KPop Demon Hunters fares in its limited US theatrical release this weekend, as well as how that big-screen outing influences the film’s record-breaking engagement on Netflix.
