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.
What differentiates those events from Tudum 2025 is that Netflix is now eager to exploit its live capabilities. The company has teamed up with Silent House Productions, its partner on the SAG Awards and the producer of the concert film for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, to produce the event.
“This is somewhere between an awards show and a big spectacle performance,” said Brandon Riegg, who oversees nonfiction series and sports for Netflix. “If we’re going to do it, it has to be a big swing, which this is inherently, and what we’re learning is what are the types of big live spectacle events that we can create on Netflix that drive interest and urgency to view.”
Netflix’s Brazilian marketing team originated the Tudum event in 2020 after seeing how active Netflix fans were at events like Brazil Comic-Con. The first iteration pulled in about 50,000 people over four days. Netflix revived the event in 2023, after the Covid pandemic subsided, luring 35,000 to the festival in 2023. The event generated more than 78 million views across the company’s social channels, including a livestream on YouTube.
Netflix’s marketing team under Ms. Lee began planning this year’s version of Tudum over a year ago, this time working closely with its content team to tailor the event both to those in the stands and to those on their couches.
The show, expected to last from 90 to 120 minutes, will emphasize the company’s three most popular series, two of which will end this year (“Squid Game” and “Stranger Things”) and one that is returning (“Wednesday”). Lady Gaga will be on hand to perform a mini-concert. Her song “Bloody Mary” became a viral sensation when fans paired a version of it with a dance from “Wednesday.” Lady Gaga also has a cameo on the show in Season 2.
Netflix, which signed a 10-year, $5 billion deal last year for World Wrestling Entertainment’s flagship show, “Raw,” will bring out some W.W.E. stars like CM Punk and Rhea Ripley to extol their love for other Netflix content. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will promote their new film, “The Rip.” Cookie Monster will make an appearance as part of Netflix’s new deal to stream “Sesame Street.” And AJ McLean, a member of the Backstreet Boys, will promote a new reality show, “Building the Band.”
Tudum 2025 is not expected to be as popular as some of Netflix’s other live content. And it is not expected to drive up profits, either. (“I don’t know that we’re losing money, but we’re certainly not making money,” Ms. Lee said.)
But executives said it would help the company keep improving its ability to stream live events, something that has run into technical difficulties in the past.
“Not all the fans are going to watch it. We hope they do, but that’s why our strategy is holistic,” Ms. Lee said. “Nine thousand people are coming to interact in person. We have the people who are going to watch around the world who can’t be on the ground in L.A. And then we’ll take a look after that and be like, ‘Hey, is this something we want to do every year?’”
Nicole Sperling covers Hollywood and the streaming industry. She has been a reporter for more than two decades.
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