Netflix Can CHILL

Two years after a stock crash that destabilized the industry and inspired endless schadenfreude, the streamer’s reputation—and finances—have bounced back

- Joy Press

THE GREEN LIGHT flashes and I dart forward under the watchful gaze of a giant pigtailed animatronic doll. The doll's eerie voice intones, "Red light." I try to stop short, but the vibrating electronic bracelet on my wrist tells me I've failed. If I were a character in Netflix's dystopian drama series Squid Game, I would be executed on the spot.

If I were on the recent reality spin-off Squid Game: The Challenge, I'd lose the chance to win millions. Luckily, I'm just a player in a Los Angeles live experience called Squid Game: The Trials, where fans pay to reenact the show's childish amusements like marbles and Red Light, Green Light. A big X simply appears across my photo on the leaderboard, and I exit through the gift shop.

If you ever wonder how serious Netflix is about winning the global streaming wars, keep in mind that it transformed a brutal South Korean critique of capitalism into a capitalist blockbuster with many tentacles. It had its squid and ate it too. "Legacy media businesses are all retreating because their linear businesses are decaying faster than they expected, and that is giving Netflix strength," says Rich Greenfield, an analyst for the research firm LightShed Partners. "The new strategy of legacy media companies is to slash content, slash marketing, jack prices, and pray for the best.” As for Netflix? At press time, its well-regarded film chief, Scott Stuber, had announced his departure, but a positive earnings report had the company’s stock surging. “They created the sandbox,” says a top Hollywood agent. “Everybody has it and everybody uses it. They’re the most powerful operator in the television space right now.”