Netflix’s Korean dating franchise ‘Single’s Inferno’ continued to showcase the popularity of non-English unscripted content across MENA.
MENA viewing momentum
First week: After its January 20 premiere, the fifth season opened strong on the streaming platform’s top 10 non-English TV chart for the week of January 19–25, debuting at No. 2 with 4.6 million views, right after ‘Can This Love Be Translated?’ It was the most popular in Singapore and Hong Kong, and ranked in the top 10 across 32 countries. Within the region, the series charted in Morocco, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Second week: The following week, dated January 26–February 1, the Korean show delivered 3.9 million views globally, ranking No. 1 in three countries and remaining in the Top 10 across 26 markets, including Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE.
Third week: By its third tracked week (February 2–8), ‘Single’s Infernon Season 5’ drew a further 3.1 million views and maintained top 10 placements in 18 countries, such as the UAE, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Morocco, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.
Fourth week: During the February 9–15 viewing period, the reality dating show dropped to eighth place and was in the top 10 in Saudi Arabia and Morocco and in nine other countries. It recorded 1.7 million views.
The format remains simple but effective: singles stranded on “Inferno Island” must form romantic connections to escape to “Paradise.” Season 5 saw the return of its established hosting panel — Hong Jin-kyung, KYUHYUN, Lee Da-hee, HANHAE, and Dex — alongside producers Kim Jae-won, Kim Jung-hyun, and Park Su-ji, the creative team behind ‘Nineteen to Twenty.’
The franchise’s trajectory has been building for years. Season 1 became the first Korean unscripted series to enter Netflix’s Global Top 10 (Non-English TV), while Season 3 charted for five weeks across 31 countries. Season 4 delivered the highest premiere-week watch hours in the show’s history.
Season 6?
That momentum has now translated into longevity. Netflix has officially confirmed production of Season 6, making ‘Single’s Inferno’ the streamer’s longest-running Korean unscripted series and the first to reach a sixth season.