Zürcher Nachrichten - BTS concert drew 18.4 million viewers, says Netflix

The seven-member group took to the stage together for the first time at the weekend following a years-long hiatus prompted by mandatory military service, and a day after releasing their latest studio album, "ARIRANG".

The comeback concert was held against the backdrop of the historic Gyeongbokgung Palace -- fitting for the "Kings of K-pop".

Netflix said its livestream of the show on Saturday "drew 18.4 million global viewers... proving the group's influence has only intensified during their time apart".

The live broadcast from Seoul's Gwanghwamun Square reached Netflix's weekly Top 10 in 80 countries and secured the number one spot in 24 countries, it said.

The event marked Netflix's first live event in South Korea, as well as its first instance of live-streaming a music performance on a global scale.

Netflix added that its estimates were derived from so-called first-party data.

During the performance, they sang "Body to Body," a track from the new album that incorporates a choral sample of the traditional Korean folk song Arirang, after which the album is named.

The folk song, about longing and separation, is often dubbed South Korea's unofficial national anthem.

Fans waved a sea of glowsticks and sang along to the group's hits, holding their phones aloft to film the performance as giant screens set up across the venue allowed the crowd to watch.

It drew more than 100,000 fans to central Seoul, according to the group's label.

The figure includes ticket holders and factors in data from the three major telecom carriers, budget mobile users and foreign visitors.

According to the Seoul metropolitan government's crowd-tracking system, an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people were in the area that night, a city official said.

Local reports said the figures vary as Seoul's crowd-tracking system relies largely on mobile base station connections and does not capture signals from foreign visitors.

The group's label, citing streaming platform Spotify, said "SWIM," the title track of its latest album, topped the Daily Top Songs Global chart for three straight days from March 20 to 22, while "Body to Body" held at No. 2 over the same period.

Around 15,000 police officers and security personnel were mobilised for the concert, with barricades lining the roads and nearby venues shut.

The latest album, "ARIRANG", released Friday, is billed as reflecting the maturing boy band's Korean identity.

It sold nearly four million copies on its first day, according to the label.

Following Saturday's concert, the superstars will embark on their "ARIRANG" world tour, beginning April 9 in Goyang, South Korea.

The 2026–27 tour spans 82 concerts across 34 cities in Asia, North America, Europe and Latin America.

Tickets for shows in South Korea, North America and Europe sold out within hours.

S.Scheidegger--NZN