‘Squid Game’ Viewership Falls In Season 3 Premiere

Media‘Squid Game’ Viewership Falls In Season 3 PremiereByToni Fitzgerald, Senior Contributor

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights

Toni Fitzgerald is a Pennsylvania-based reporter who covers media AuthorJul 01, 2025, 01:56pm EDTThe season 3 finale of "Squid Game," the dystopian Korean series on Netflix, ders a grim ending

More Viewership fell from season 2

Netflix The premiere of Squid Game season 3 has drawn quite a bit of online buzz, as the hugely dystopian Korean drama returned for what’s billed as its final season

But it appears people weren’t quite as excited it as they were the previous season

Viewership for Squid Game’s third-season premiere on Netflix Friday was down compared to the season 2 debut

Households, according to -plus-three-day viewing data crunched by Samba TV, which vides TV nology for audience data and omniscreen measurement

That is a good number for Netflix, but it’s not as good as season 2’s debut

Who Watched Squid Game Season 3

Notably, Samba found that Hispanic and Asian households were much more ly to tune into the gram than the average house

There’s good reason for that

While Netflix has tons of content, offerings featuring Asians in a leading role are in shorter supply—and it has more than other ers

The reason for the ity among Hispanics is less, though the original has a Mexican contestant and there was a very TikTok how Mexicans would play the Squid Game

But it is not the best this year

Barely a week earlier, the series debut of The Waterfront, the soapy new family drama from the ducer of Dawson’s Creek (Kevin Williamson), drew slightly better numbers

Waterfront drew 1. 7 million households, according to Samba data

Another recent debut, Ransom Canyon, posted similar numbers

Netflix was ly pleased, as it just renewed the gram for a second season

Why Is Squid Game Season 3 Viewership Down

Viewership for Squid Game season 3 could have dipped for many reasons

As Samba points out, season 2 debuted on Netflix in the United States on December 26 last year—the day after Christmas, when many Americans have off work

They could just binge the show without distractions, whereas last Friday wasn’t a holiday and could have seen lower engagement simply because of that

Or, on the other hand, fans may have been waiting for the upcoming July 4 holiday to binge the show, taking advantage of the downtime

And others may have seen critical online buzz the Squid Game season 3 ending that turned them off from watching the gram

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