Netflix is adding another YouTube-native act to its 2026 creator acquisition list. Sam Golbach and Colby Brock, the paranormal investigators known as Sam and Colby, will have a collection of their spooky episodes released globally on Netflix on October 1, 2026, timed for Halloween.
What Netflix is getting
Sam and Colby are not a niche horror channel. Their main YouTube channel has 16.3 million subscribers and more than 2.5 billion total views, according to figures cited by What’s on Netflix. A second channel, Sam and Colby Reacts, carries nearly 3 million subscribers, and the duo maintains a large presence on TikTok and Instagram.
The Netflix logline describes the release simply: the pair visit “the world’s most haunted places” while trying to answer “Are ghosts real?” For Netflix, the premise matters less than the audience attached to it.
A deliberate YouTube import play
The deal is not a one-off. Netflix has spent 2026 licensing creator-led titles at a faster clip. The slate includes Rhett & Link, who brought Good Mythical Morning and Mythical Kitchen to the service on September 7, and The Amazing Digital Circus under a day-and-date arrangement. In kids’ entertainment, Netflix has added names such as Salish & Jordan Matter, Ms. Rachel, Mark Rober, Danny Go! and ChuChu TV.
The common thread is reach. Many of these deals are structured as non-exclusive windows: the creator keeps a footprint on YouTube and other social platforms while Netflix gets a catalog presence and, it hopes, a new sampling base.
Why this matters for media planners
Netflix’s logic, as the report notes, is that younger audiences already spend a large share of screen time on YouTube. By importing familiar creators, the platform is buying a bridge into that behavior. If watching Sam and Colby on Netflix feels native to their audience, the next step is exposure to other Netflix programming.
For entertainment marketers and streaming strategists, the number to watch is not just opening-week views but retention and title discovery after the binge. Creator imports are most valuable when they lower acquisition costs for adjacent library or original titles, not when they simply spike for one weekend.
What to do about it
- Track creator audience overlap before planning adjacencies around the October 1 drop.
- Model creator deals as non-exclusive reach: YouTube, TikTok and Instagram presence continues after the Netflix window.
- Use Halloween timing to test whether paranormal inventory pulls in younger viewers who can be introduced to horror or thriller originals.
The Sam and Colby release is a useful test case for the broader creator-to-streaming pipeline. The creators teased the announcement to fans as “2 major announcements coming soon” and said they had “worked so hard all year to bring y’all the best of the best this October.” The first was their annual “Hell Week” event; the Netflix drop is the second.
Netflix’s bet is that creator fandom can be converted into platform habit. If retention data supports that, expect the import pace to continue.
Source: What’s on Netflix
