Squid Game wins Netflix all the money

The Future. Audience-data analytics company Parrot Analytics found that Squid Game is a big home run for Netflix, with the show trending to become the most profitable title for the platform. It’s part of Parrot’s new insights tool that can measure the popularity of a project and predict its financial value for a company. That tool could bring real transparency to the streaming industry and become a key bargaining chip in talent/creative negotiations.

Lifetime value
Axios breaks down a report from Parrot Analytics showing how Squid Game is set to be Netflix’s most profitable project.

• If Netflix produces at least two more seasons of Squid Game, it’s predicted to bring in more than $2 billion in revenue by 2027.
• Netflix only spent $21.4 million to produce the first season, so that ROI — even accounting for marketing, talent pay bumps, and subsequent-season budget increases — is very impressive.

Parrot in a coal mine
Used by nearly every major Hollywood studio, Parrot Analytics was able to make the Squid Game analysis using a new measurement system that it plans to roll out in the near future.

• The tool can predict “the monetary value of streaming titles for a particular service” by comparing the “demand” of a title (viewership numbers, social impressions, ancillary demand, etc.).
• It then is compared to “the percentage of demand for a title over a quarter to the streamer’s revenue.”
• That data is then used to create a predictive model of the value of any title “after comparing several quarters of trend data over time.”

Parrot has already used the tool to find some other valuable insights:

• Big-budget films like Red Notice and The Gray Man don’t typically have the financial value to justify their nine-figure budgets.
• Lower-cost niche films like horror, teen romcoms, and holiday movies are a solid revenue generators.
• And nothing keeps eyeballs glued like a long-running sitcom or a big-budget original series (as long as they’re hits).

Essentially, whatever keeps people hooked or warrants repeat viewings.