Credit: “Squid Game Profile” by Rotten Tomatoes

The “Long Tail” model is a phrase coined by businessman Chris Anderson to describe that when streaming platforms release a series that becomes instantly successful, it can establish a large enough fanbase for the show to the point where plenty more seasons and even spin-offs can be created regardless of whether the initial hype around the series remains relevant or not. However, this business strategy can come at the expense of concluding a series way after the storyline is naturally intended to finish. One particular instance where Netflix’s business model doesn’t necessarily align with the content itself is Squid Game, which is one of the most watched Netflix Originals of all time. The first season of Squid Game took over a decade to be produced by its creator Hwang Dong-Hyuk, but the instant popularity after the show’s release in 2021 was immediately followed by the creation of a Netflix reality competition show titled Squid Game: The Challenge, and a renewal of the original series for two more seasons with release dates set less than five years after season 1 (Verhoeven).

Credit: Comments from “Squid Game Season 2 Announcement” by Netflix (YouTube)

This announcement came as a surprise to some fans of the show since an important part of the plot in Squid Game is how all the main characters except the protagonist die before the conclusion of season 1, meaning the only way for the storyline to continue on is by hiring an entirely new cast which is essentially just creating a brand new series with the same title as the original. Scholar Amanda D. Lotz has commented about the normalcy of streaming services making these types of decision as “shifts in industry logics adjust creative and textual possibilities to such an extent that changes in cultural goods should be expected” (Lotz). If a series like Squid Game were to have appeared on cable television, there is a likely possibility that it would have aired as a limited series, with the end of the storyline closing out when it was originally intended to. This would be especially true under the circumstance that international shows are not as frequently watched on cable networks so the series would probably not have had as much popularity from a business standpoint, making it unable to sustain more seasons and spin-offs.

Credit: “Squid Game Cast: See the Actors Joining the Netflix Series in Season 2” by Entertainment Weekly Staff

-Olivia Arenburg

Reference: Amanda D. Lotz, “Television Outside the Box: The Technological Revolution of  Television”, in: The Television will be Revolutionized, 2nd edition, NYU Press, 2014, 53- 94

Beatrice Verhoeven “Squid Game Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk Looks Back on Developing the Series” in The Hollywood Reporter