Research: Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters passes 1bn viewing hours
May 5, 2026
By Nik Roseveare
Research from Ampere Analysis reveals that KPop Demon Hunters was the most popular movie on subscription streaming platforms in 2025, and the most watched film of all time on Netflix, surpassing 1 billion viewing hours.
The streamer has delivered cultural phenomena before, but as a family-friendly movie, KPop Demon Hunters is one of the first streaming Original films to break into a space dominated by the franchises of major studios like Disney and NBCUniversal. It is also a rare example of an Original film reaching a cultural impact level reserved for flagship series such as Squid Game and Stranger Things.
Ampere Analysis asks: Does this mean the streamers will rethink their current pullback from family-oriented content? It’s research shows that family-friendly content behaves differently from other genres.
Key findings:
- Hit Children & Family titles have longer viewing lifecycles. KPop Demon Hunters reached peak weekly viewing in its eleventh week after release. In comparison, Ampere’s analysis of the top 20 most-viewed Original films released on Netflix shows they usually reach peak weekly viewership in week one or two and engagement diminishes quickly.
- Netflix has reduced commissioning in the genre. Children & Family content accounted for 4 per cent of Netflix’s total commissions during 2024-2025, down from 9 per cent during 2022-2023.
- This reflects a broader streaming platform trend. SVoD platforms have the lowest share of Scripted Children & Family commissions of any type of commissioner. Globally, they accounted for just 13 per cent of Children & Family commissions in 2025, versus 47 per cent for public broadcasters. Increased reliance on ad-supported tiers, where monetising children’s content is complex, and the rise in popularity of platforms like YouTube are contributing to the SVoD pullback.
- Despite this, kids’ content remains a key subscription driver. Among households with children, 35 per cent say having TV shows and movies their children want to watch is a key subscription motivator (Ampere Q3 2025 Media Consumer data).
- The Children & Family genre continues to deliver strong engagement. In H2 2025, it generated 4.4 billion views, second only to Crime & Thriller, according to Ampere’s analysis of Netflix’s global viewing data of movies and TV seasons.