The Korean original series Dead-End Job has topped Netflix’s non-English TV series chart, accumulating 8.7 million views during the latest tracking week ending Sunday, November 8, according to Netflix. The series, released on October 30, is in its second week on the chart.
The Korean horror series finished first among non-English shows with 8.7 million views, according to the weekly Top 10 rundown carried by What’s On Netflix, which puts its hours viewed at 44.4 million, up 74.80 percent on the previous week. A Couple of Lies, another non-English series, finished second with 7.2 million views, up 127.37 percent.
A strong week for Korean drama
The result was reported by Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, which noted that the series topped the chart in the week ending November 8. The series is a Korean original, and its success continues the strong run of Korean drama on Netflix, which has made the non-English charts a regular battleground for international hits.
Lupin: Part 2 finished tenth on the non-English TV chart with 2.2 million views, down 87.08 percent, in its tenth week, according to the rundown. The contrast between Dead-End Job’s rise and Lupin’s fall shows how quickly the international charts can turn over.
What the numbers mean
Dead-End Job’s 8.7 million views is the biggest non-English television figure of the week, and it beats every English-language television title except Taken: Natalee Holloway, which took 12.9 million views. The horror series has found an audience well beyond Korea, and its second-week growth of nearly 75 percent in hours viewed suggests word of mouth is driving it.
The series arrived on October 30, just before Halloween, a fitting launch for a horror title. Whether it can hold the top spot into a third week will be clear when next Tuesday’s figures are published, but its opening fortnight has already made it one of the breakout international hits of the autumn.
Related reading: Taken: Natalee Holloway Still Netflix’s No. 1 Series
