Website Logo
  • News
  • Insights
  • Columns
    • Ask Skip
    • Basics of Streaming
    • Exec Briefing
    • From The Archives
    • Insiders Circle
    • Myths in Streaming
    • The Streaming Madman
    • The Take
  • Directory
  • Guides
    • TSW Guide to Metadata
    • TSW Guide to AI & The Modern Media Workflow
    • TSW Guide to the Future of Media Jobs
  • For Companies
  • Support TSW
  • News
  • Insights
  • Columns
    • Ask Skip
    • Basics of Streaming
    • Exec Briefing
    • From The Archives
    • Insiders Circle
    • Myths in Streaming
    • The Streaming Madman
    • The Take
  • Directory
  • Guides
    • TSW Guide to Metadata
    • TSW Guide to AI & The Modern Media Workflow
    • TSW Guide to the Future of Media Jobs
  • For Companies
  • Support TSW
Subscribe

Netflix’s Biggest Hit Ever? KPop Demon Hunters Smashes Records, Tops Second-Half 2025 Viewing

The Streaming Wars Staff
January 21, 2026
in Insights, Business, Entertainment, Finance, Industry, News, Programming, Streaming
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Netflix’s Biggest Hit Ever? KPop Demon Hunters Smashes Records, Tops Second-Half 2025 Viewing

If there was any doubt about KPop Demon Hunters‘ global dominance, Netflix just put it to rest. According to the streamer’s latest What We Watched engagement report, the animated musical racked up a staggering 482 million views between July and December 2025. That makes it the most-watched Netflix title of all time over a six-month period.

That total doesn’t even include the film’s first 10 days post-premiere on June 20. Add another 32 million views for the official lyric videos, and KPop Demon Hunters looks less like a surprise hit and more like a franchise in the making. The movie also won multiple Golden Globes and is widely seen as a major Oscar contender.

For context, Happy Gilmore 2, which premiered a month later on July 25, pulled in 135.1 million views during the same period. That’s impressive on its own, especially given its record-breaking U.S. opening weekend, but it was still dwarfed by KPop Demon Hunters.

On the series side, Wednesday Season 2 led the pack with 123.9 million views after its August 6 debut. Stranger Things 5, despite only being available for a few hours before the end of the year, landed at 93.5 million views, ranking second. The Stranger Things back catalog also held strong, with Season 1 pulling 57 million views to land at number five and Season 2 hitting 45 million views for the number ten spot.

Ryan Murphy’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story brought in 56 million views, while Sean Combs: The Reckoning, released just weeks before the year’s end, still reached 50.8 million views.

These numbers only reflect the back half of 2025. Netflix confirmed an overall platform lift, with 96 billion hours watched, up 1 billion hours from the first half of the year. With Stranger Things 5 and other big titles only partially accounted for in this report, the first half of 2026 is likely to show even more dramatic results.

The Streaming Wars is intentionally ad-free

We don’t run display ads. Not because we can’t, but because we don’t believe in them.

They interrupt the reading experience. They cheapen the work. And they burn advertisers’ money on impressions nobody actually wants.

So we chose a different model.

We say the things people in this industry are already thinking but don’t say out loud. We connect the dots beyond the headline and focus on explaining why things matter to the people working in this business.

If you believe industry coverage can exist without clutter and interruption, you can support it here → SUPPORT TSW.

Support is optional. But it directly funds research and continued coverage — and helps prove this model can work.

Support TSW →
Tags: Happy Gilmore 2kpop demon huntersMonster Ed GeinnetflixNetflix animationNetflix EarningsNetflix original filmsNetflix viewershipSean Combs The ReckoningStranger Thingsstreaming metricsWednesdayWhat We Watched
Share224Tweet140Send

Related Posts

Google TV Just Turned 10,000 Free Titles Into Home-Screen Leverage

Google TV Just Turned 10,000 Free Titles Into Home-Screen Leverage The Streaming Wars Staff

August 12, 2026
Sony Is Getting Paid Three Times for the Same Seinfeld Reruns

Sony Is Getting Paid Three Times for the Same Seinfeld Reruns Kirby Grines

August 12, 2026
Hollywood’s New Financiers Sell Cereal and Sneakers

Hollywood’s New Financiers Sell Cereal and Sneakers The Streaming Wars Staff

August 12, 2026
Ask Skip: Are Advertisers Measuring the Wrong Thing?

Ask Skip: Are Advertisers Measuring the Wrong Thing? Skip Buffering

August 12, 2026
Next Post
Netflix Is Rebuilding Its App to Own More of the Day

Netflix Is Rebuilding Its App to Own More of the Day

Recent News

Google TV Just Turned 10,000 Free Titles Into Home-Screen Leverage

Google TV Just Turned 10,000 Free Titles Into Home-Screen Leverage

The Streaming Wars Staff
August 12, 2026
Sony Is Getting Paid Three Times for the Same Seinfeld Reruns

Sony Is Getting Paid Three Times for the Same Seinfeld Reruns

Kirby Grines
August 12, 2026
Hollywood’s New Financiers Sell Cereal and Sneakers

Hollywood’s New Financiers Sell Cereal and Sneakers

The Streaming Wars Staff
August 12, 2026
Ask Skip: Are Advertisers Measuring the Wrong Thing?

Ask Skip: Are Advertisers Measuring the Wrong Thing?

Skip Buffering
August 12, 2026
Website Logo

The Streaming Wars is an independent intelligence and B2B media platform covering streaming, distribution, advertising, and media economics. Built by operators and read by decision-makers, TSW helps companies build authority and reach the buyers shaping the industry. Ad-free. Paywall-free.

Explore

About

Find a Vendor

Have a Tip?

Contact

Podcast

For Companies

Support TSW

Join the Newsletter

Copyright © 2026 by 43Twenty.

Privacy Policy

Term of Use

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Insights
  • Columns
    • Ask Skip
    • Basics of Streaming
    • Exec Briefing
    • From The Archives
    • Myths in Streaming
    • Insiders Circle
    • The Streaming Madman
    • The Take
  • Directory
  • Guides
    • TSW Guide to Metadata
    • TSW Guide to AI & The Modern Media Workflow
    • TSW Guide to the Future of Media Jobs
    • Streaming Analytics in the Age of AI
  • For Companies
  • Support TSW

Copyright © 2024 by 43Twenty.