The company has turned an in-person fan event into a live televised spectacle.
Netflix is counting on devoted fans of “Stranger Things,” “Squid Game” and “Wednesday” to tune in to its streaming service on Saturday night. But they won’t log in to see new episodes of those most popular shows.
Instead, viewers will be greeted with sneak peeks and cast reunions, as part of Tudum, an occasional in-person marketing event for Netflix that the company has turned into a streamed variety show. Think marketing as entertainment.
“We’re calling it the can’t-miss party of the year,” said Marian Lee, Netflix’s chief marketing officer. “There’s going to be a lot of surprises.”
The event illustrates Netflix’s growing appetite for streaming live events. In just the past year, the company has lured giant audiences to the fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, two National Football League games on Christmas Day and a roast of the former quarterback Tom Brady. And it has plans to do much more. Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will get a rematch in July at Madison Square Garden as part of an all-female boxing card, and the N.FL. will return to the service again on Christmas.
The first two Tudum events were held in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2020 and in 2023. Thousands of Brazilians waited in line to attend those multiday events. The one on Saturday, though, will be held in Los Angeles, at the Kia Forum, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern. The 9,500 tickets, which went on sale on May 9 for $25 to $75, sold out in a week.
That is not unusual for large fan gatherings like Tudum. Thousands descend on San Diego each year for Comic-Con, probably Hollywood’s largest marketing convention, and Disney has created its own version with its D23 confabs.