Netflix‘s plan to capitalize on its success in the K-pop sphere involves Alan Chikin Chow. The YouTube star, who reaches nearly 100 million subscribers on his main channel, is joining forces with HYBE America and Netflix to develop a project that will include the launch of a brand new K-pop act.
HYBE, the entertainment company best known for incubating BTS, previously announced its plan to join forces with Chow to establish a new outfit of K-pop hitmakers. Now, the two partners are bringing Netflix into the fold as well. The streamer has agreed to distribute a series that “will follow a misfit crew of aspiring pop idol rejects enrolled in an arts academy who come together to form a co-ed band.”
In a move reminiscent of old-school MTV and Disney Channel originals, the stars of the show will launch music alongside their appearances. The result, according to HYBE America President of Film and Television James Shin, will be a “culture-defining model for how pop groups are created.”
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With its involvement in Chow and HYBE’s project, Netflix will unite two trends that helped define it during the 2025 calendar year. One of those threads, of course, is K-pop. The animated film Kpop Demon Hunters was undoubtedly the biggest Netflix original of the calendar year, and it has scored some rare award recognition to boot.
Netflix also spent 2025 trying to poach some of YouTube’s top creators and podcasts. Now it’s going into business with a YouTube chart topper who is itching to develop an entertainment empire of his own. Chow has taken inspiration from Korean dramas for his series Alan’s Universe, and he has opened a sprawling studio space to facilitate the production of those videos.
A Netflix original will help Chow cultivate more cultural cachet, but that relationship moves in both directions. Much of KPop Demon Hunters‘ viral success has come through YouTube Shorts, a format Chow has indisputably mastered. He is big enough to ensure that Netflix and HYBE’s new Kpop act reaches its target audience on social media.
Up to this point, Netflix original series led by YouTube creators have been a relative rarity. The streamer seems to prefer live events and licensing deals for its creator-related dealings. The YouTuber-led originals that have arrived on Netflix have struggled to leave lasting impressions. Chow is hoping that a bold, melodramatic addition to the streamer’s catalog can move the needle. If it does, than Chow will be going up, up, up.
