YouTube collective The Sidemen are moving to Netflix
The Sidemen are a well-known name for Gen Z, as they are Britain’s most popular YouTube group. They have become accustomed to making content for YouTube for over a decade. However, they have now confirmed they will be moving onto Netflix.
The YouTube superstars have confirmed that season two of their reality show, Inside, will debut on Netflix next year and that the streaming giant will make a version in the US. The first series of their reality show was streamed on YouTube in 2024.
The Sidemen stated that they felt as though they had “hit the limit” of what they could achieve on YouTube. They are moving to Netflix to do “something even bigger.” The seven-strong YouTube group, which includes rapper and boxer KSI, boast more than 146 million YouTube subscribers between their respective channels.
Vik Barn, also known as Vikkstar123, said in an interview with BBC that he knows the move to Netflix is “ambitious” but that it was “exciting to conquer a new challenge.”
“Netflix is the gold standard,” he said, “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.”
The Sidemen originally started making videos on YouTube in the early 2010s. Initially, their content was limited to playing video games and reacting to videos. In the past decade, they have grown so that they record comedy sketches, dating shows, podcasts, and travel challenges. They currently have a production team of over 100 people who help them create and publish their videos.
Inside is one of their most popular recent ideas. The reality series was launched on YouTube in June 2024 and gained 14million viewers on its first episode. In the series, ten influencers were locked inside a house for a week as they all pined for a prize of up to £1million. The success of the series pricked Netflix’s ears, who have commissioned the second series.
“YouTube opened so many doors for us so we can’t diminish its power and it’s still unrivalled in some ways,” said Vik, “But working with Netflix is a cool opportunity to reach a new audience.”
He continued, “We’re at a ceiling with YouTube – we bring in 20 million UK viewers each month, and now we’re thinking about how to connect with different people.”