The Mind-Blowing Reason Why Cobra Kai Made its Epic Move to Netflix in Season 3

Netflix, after acquiring the rights to Cobra Kai from YouTube, is preparing to release the highly anticipated final season. The sequel series, which originally started as a YouTube original, has successfully captured the hearts of both long-time fans and new audiences by skillfully expanding on the cult classic film, The Karate Kid. In fact, the fact that Cobra Kai was initially a YouTube original may come as a surprise to some, as its success quickly overshadowed any behind-the-scenes dealings with the platform. However, if YouTube had maintained their rights to the series, Cobra Kai's trajectory could have been significantly different from what viewers are familiar with today.

Now, Netflix has officially announced the sixth season of Cobra Kai, marking the conclusion of the character arcs for the main stars of the original 1984 film, including Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), and a multitude of new and returning characters from The Karate Kid canon. While YouTube may have been capable of achieving this feat, Netflix has proven to be the true home for fostering the Cobra Kai sensation.

Cobra Kai Moved To Netflix To Make Season 4 Happen

Despite the positive trajectory of the series, YouTube decided to trade their exclusive rights to Cobra Kai in 2020 in order to focus more on unscripted content in music, celebrities, and creator-focused originals. Since Cobra Kai did not align with YouTube's overall strategy and other scripted content on the platform was being cancelled, Cobra Kai needed a new home to ensure its future, especially after being denied further seasons. SonyTV, the distribution studio for Cobra Kai, had to search for a suitable outlet that would be committed to ordering new seasons.

Fortunately, SonyTV had no trouble finding interested platforms as the first two seasons of Cobra Kai broke records - season 1 alone made it the sixth-most searched TV series on Google in 2018. Netflix eagerly seized the opportunity and outbid other streaming services, not only securing season 4 and beyond for Cobra Kai but also promising a growing audience that was more aligned with the show than YouTube's. Netflix had initially lost the chance to have Cobra Kai from the beginning to YouTube, but this time, they acquired the series and propelled it to become a resounding success.

Why Cobra Kai Is Better On Netflix

Cobra Kai's move to Netflix significantly increased its reach. In comparison to its time on YouTube, where the first episode of season 1 garnered 55 million views, the first episode of season 4 on Netflix amassed an impressive 120 million hours of watch time within three days. It also became the second-most watched show on Netflix worldwide in its first month. While the move to Netflix didn't bring about substantial changes in terms of production or storyline, it undeniably benefited Cobra Kai by attracting a larger audience both domestically and globally.

With the series concluding on a high note with Netflix viewers, there is now the potential for Netflix to leverage Cobra Kai's success to develop new spinoffs within the Karate Kid universe. Netflix's content strategy holds greater potential for expanding the franchise beyond what YouTube could have envisioned, offering the opportunity to explore more of Cobra Kai's storylines in future installments. It is highly likely that Cobra Kai's destination and its future prospects within the franchise exceeded the capabilities of YouTube, and perhaps this ultimately turned out to be a positive outcome.