Image credit: Netflix
Netflix’s aggressive efforts to acquire and partner with top YouTube talent continue to accelerate. Paranormal investigators Sam and Colby are the latest internet stars to join the ever-growing roster, with a collection of their own spooky episodes set to premiere globally on Netflix on October 1, 2026.
If you’re not familiar with Sam Golbach and Colby Brock, they’ve been an Internet staple for over a decade. Originally rising to fame on Vine before transitioning with great success to YouTube, the duo have built a massive empire investigating haunted and abandoned locations.
How big is it? At the time of publication, Home Sam and Colby The YouTube channel has 16.3 million subscribers and over 2.5 billion total views. This is on top of them Sam and Colby’s reaction channel (which has nearly 3 million subscribers of its own) and its massive footprint across platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
Here’s the official chronicle of what you can expect from the new show on Netflix:
Friends Sam and Colby visit the most haunted places in the world in search of supernatural clues to answer the ultimate question: Are ghosts real?
Eagle-eyed fans of the channel got a mysterious alert about this news a few days ago. The duo posted a multi-photo text teaser on their social media, thanking their community for supporting them on their journey.
“For over a decade, we’ve been exploring this crazy journey, and we had no idea it would be so life-changing,” the text posts read, adding that they “worked hard all year to bring you the best of the best this October.”
The teaser promised “two major announcements coming soon” – stating that “everything we do we do as a family” – and confirmed that one of these announcements relates to their highly anticipated annual “HELL WEEK” event. Now we know exactly what this huge second announcement is!
Next in a long line of YouTube stars
As we did Covered over the past year, ‘Sam & Colby’ follows a long line of YouTube shows and stars who have moved to Netflix, and The best newly They confirmed that they are making this move as well. Most often, these deals are non-exclusive, as creators maintain a footprint across other platforms.
Instead of just sticking with traditional Hollywood licensing, Netflix has actively shifted its strategy to partnering with the biggest creators on the internet. Throughout 2026 alone, Netflix has licensed and acquired a massive catalog of YouTube hits. We’ve also seen unique day-and-date streaming deals for indie animation crews Amazing digital circus And the legendary duo Rhett and Link, who just brought in Good morning legendary and Legendary cuisine For service on September 7. All of this comes on top of a huge push into YouTube entertainment for kids, with the likes of Giants Salish and Jordan Matter, Mrs. Rachelmark robert, Danny go!and Chuzhou TV Among many others who all join the list, often achieving massive viewership.
The streamer’s strategy is undeniably clear: Netflix knows that younger audiences spend a significant portion of their screen time on YouTube, and by bringing them in, they’re hoping viewership can move or stay on Netflix and after they’ve immersed themselves in episodes, they can be introduced to other Netflix shows.