Netflix has taken on the second season of The Sidemen‘s YouTube reality series.
The streamer has greenlit a second season of the Big Brother-esque Inside, which will air early next year. The first season aired on YouTube, with the first ep having amassed 14 million views via the Sidemen YouTube channel, which has 21.8 million subscribers while the group have nearly 150 million subs between them. Netflix taking on the second season marks a rare occurrence of a YouTube-originated show moving to a streamer.
In collaboration with Netflix and The Sidemen, UK studio Cowshed Collective will produce the seven-part show that features prolific influencers locked inside a house, where they compete in a series of challenges for a prize worth up to £1m ($1.26M).
The Sidemen told the BBC they have “hit the limit” of what they can achieve on YouTube. “Netflix is the gold standard and part of us working with them is to say that over the past decade we’ve managed to go from filming content in our bedrooms to working with the biggest streaming platform in the world,” said group member Vik Barn.
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Cowshed Collective’s George Cowin said the “commission marks a huge shift in the entertainment industry.” “At Cowshed Collective we have again proven that we can produce landmark reality series which not only draws millions of viewers, but also engages a community and influences cultural narrative across platforms,” he added.
Comprised of KSI, Barn, Ethan Payne, Harry Lewis, Joshua Bradley, Simon Minter and Tobi Brown, The Sidemen is one of the most popular global YouTube collectives.
The group’s documentary, The Sidemen Story, was acquired by Netflix earlier this year, and Netflix commissioning Inside comes with streaming services keen to jump aboard the YouTube train. Amazon struck a splashy $100M deal with MrBeast for his Beast Games reality show and that show is due to launch next month, although it has been beset by issues during production.
On Inside, The Sidemen will serve as EPs alongside George Cowin and Ryan O’Shea for Cowshed Collective.
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