Netflix just made a groundbreaking deal to show a TV network’s live and on-demand programming. Starting next summer, people in France will be able to watch content from French TV network TF1, including “The Voice,” soaps, and big live sports events.
“This is a first-of-its-kind partnership that plays to our strengths of giving audiences the best entertainment alongside the best discovery experience,” Greg Peters, co-CEO of Netflix, said in a statement. “By teaming up with France’s leading broadcaster we will provide French consumers with even more reasons to come to Netflix every day and to stay with us for all their entertainment.”
And just like that, Netflix is looking more and more like the cable model it used to say was doomed.
It’s unclear why Netflix chose France for its first such partnership and if it could signal the start of a broader push. Industry watchers were quick to speculate that more could follow.
“I would expect to see these deals crop up in other markets,” Ampere Analysis’ Guy Bisson said, pointing to the UK as a natural next market.
Netflix is far ahead of the paid streamer pack. To keep growing, it has to continually unlock new kinds of content that keep subscribers sticking around. That’s why it has moved into live sports and other events, as well as kids’ shows and games.
But it has never signed a deal for live TV channels, and the TF1 partnership fits Netflix’s goal of being a one-stop entertainment shop.
It also feeds its advertising ambitions. Netflix is leaning on ads for its next phase of growth, and advertisers place a high value on live audiences because they’re seen as more attentive. Netflix’s ad tier reaches 94 million monthly active users, according to the company. All in, it has more than 300 million paid subscribers.
There’s also an upside for cable and linear TV broadcasters in partnering with Netflix. Their audiences are waning, and Netflix and other tech platforms can connect them to more viewers. TF1 is free to air in France, so being on Netflix doesn’t cannibalize subscription revenue, though it could jeopardize the broadcaster’s standing with advertisers by distributing on a platform it doesn’t control.
TV networks’ partnership with tech platforms has taken other forms, as well. Media companies in the US, needing short-term revenue, have long licensed their shows to Netflix, for example. TV companies have also put full episodes of shows on YouTube as they look for new sources of revenue and viewers.
Streaming industry analyst Dan Rayburn said the TF1 deal won’t likely be replicated in the US anytime soon, however. US TV companies like Disney and Paramount are invested in their own streamers. Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable networks are soon to be out there on their own as their parent companies prepare to spin them off, but he doubted either are big enough to be interesting to Netflix.
